wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “featured posts plugin”

wp.org orders by popularity, so a plugin a host bundled onto millions of sites, or a big-brand one that's slow and mediocre, can sit at the top. Our ranking is built to answer a different question: which of these is actually worth installing. How this works →

For “featured posts plugin”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 5 of the top 20. 1 plugin is pushed down for signals wp.org ignores: errors, a host-installed base, or removal risk.

wp.org search ranks on

Install count (uncapped), the raw star average, freshness, and support. Popularity dominates, so the biggest install base usually wins regardless of how it got there.

We add

A cap on the install boost, volume-weighted ratings, and signals wp.org can't see: whether it throws errors on current PHP, whether the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Really Simple Featured Video for Posts, Pages & WooCommerce Products shows at wp.org #13 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 4K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 34 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder places #12 on merit, 4.5★ from 7323 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

1 N NS Featured Posts 4K+ · 4.8★ (29) wp.org #1 ↑1 2

Featured Image from URL (FIFU) 60K+ · 4.6★ (264) wp.org #2 ↓1 3

Duplicate Post 300K+ · 4.9★ (1623) wp.org #3 4

Quick Featured Images 50K+ · 4.7★ (235) wp.org #6 1 too low 6

Default Featured Image 50K+ · 4.8★ (69) wp.org #5 1 too high 7

Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails 100K+ · 4.8★ (215) wp.org #7 8

Business Directory Plugin – Easy Listing & Member Directories for WordPress 10K+ · 4.6★ (504) wp.org #8 9

GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #9 1 too high 11

Custom Post Type UI 1M+ · 4.6★ (276) wp.org #11 12

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #17 5 too low 13

Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (587) wp.org #23 10 too low 14 F Featured Image Admin Thumb 20K+ · 4.7★ (40) wp.org #14 ↓1 15

SchedulePress – Auto Post & Publish, Auto Social Share, Schedule Posts with Editorial Calendar & Missed Schedule Post Publisher 10K+ · 4.6★ (201) wp.org #22 ↓1 7 too low 16

Conditionally display featured image on singular posts and pages 30K+ · 4.8★ (38) wp.org #15 ↓1 1 too high 17

Auto Featured Image (Auto Post Thumbnail) 40K+ · 3.8★ (119) not PHP-current wp.org #12 ↓1 5 too high 18

GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #18 ↓2 19

Featured Images in RSS for Mailchimp & More 20K+ · 4.3★ (113) wp.org #20 1 too low 20

Really Simple Featured Video for Posts, Pages & WooCommerce Products 4K+ · 4.0★ (34) wp.org #13 ↓1 8 too high 22

Rate My Post – Star Rating Plugin by FeedbackWP 20K+ · 4.7★ (159) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #24 ↓2 2 too low 23

Add Featured Image Column 3K+ · 4.9★ (13) thin reviews wp.org #19 ↓2 4 too high 24

WP Featured Posts 300+ · 4.3★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #16 ↓1 8 too high

Merit ranking caps the install boost at 1M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted Bayesian score and a Wilson lower bound, and keeps wp.org's own freshness and compatibility decays. Method from the plugin-directory source; see Meta Trac #8298. Positions are tracked daily from the first visit to a keyword, so the small arrows show movement since tracking began.