wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “filter modified posts”
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 “filter modified posts”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20.
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
Posts filter multiselect shows at wp.org #5 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 18 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) places #6 on merit, 5.0★ from 423 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.
Search & Filter 40K+ · 4.5★ (175)
wp.org #1 2 
Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (587)
wp.org #2 3 
Content Views – Post Grid & Filter (Shortcode, Blocks, Elementor Widgets) 100K+ · 4.8★ (333) heavy footprint
wp.org #4 1 too low 4 
UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706)
wp.org #12 8 too low 5 
Nested Pages 90K+ · 4.7★ (126)
wp.org #9 4 too low 6 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423)
wp.org #17 ↓2 11 too low 7 
WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346)
wp.org #13 ↑4 6 too low 8 
Post Duplicator 200K+ · 4.8★ (80)
wp.org #11 3 too low 9 
Flex Posts – Responsive Posts Block 2K+ · 5.0★ (24) thin reviews
wp.org #8 1 too high 10 
Dynamic Month & Year into Posts 8K+ · 5.0★ (18) thin reviews
wp.org #7 3 too high 11 
Smart Post – Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider Gutenberg Blocks for Blog & News 20K+ · 4.7★ (210) heavy footprint
wp.org #14 ↓1 3 too low 12 
Last Modified Timestamp 6K+ · 5.0★ (28)
wp.org #10 2 too high 13 
Beautiful taxonomy filters 2K+ · 4.9★ (68)
wp.org #15 ↓1 2 too low 14 
AnWP Post Grid and Post Carousel Slider for Elementor 20K+ · 4.9★ (84)
wp.org #19 5 too low 15 
VK Filter Search 6K+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #3 12 too high 16 
Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) not PHP-current
wp.org #16 17 
Magical Posts Display – Elementor Advanced Posts widgets 3K+ · 4.4★ (10) thin reviews
wp.org #6 11 too high 18 
GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155)
wp.org #20 2 too low 19 
Enable Media Replace 600K+ · 4.4★ (302)
wp.org #24 5 too low 20 
W4 Post List 3K+ · 4.7★ (94)
wp.org #23 3 too low 21 
Auto Featured Image (Auto Post Thumbnail) 40K+ · 3.8★ (119) not PHP-current
wp.org #21 22 
Display Post Types – Post Grid, post list and post sliders 8K+ · 5.0★ (26) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #22 23 P Posts filter multiselect 100+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #5 18 too high 24 
Lock Last Modified Date 80+ · 4.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #18 6 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.