wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “frontend posting”
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 “frontend posting”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 5 plugins are 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
Airy Frontend Forms shows at wp.org #9 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 50+ 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
Kadence Security – Password, Two Factor Authentication, and Brute Force Protection places #9 on merit, 4.6★ from 3992 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
ACF Frontend Admin by DynamiApps 8K+ · 4.5★ (160) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #1 2 
Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220)
wp.org #4 2 too low 3 
User Frontend – Membership, User Registration, User Profile, User Directory & Content Restriction with Frontend Post Submission 20K+ · 4.1★ (537) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too high 4 
Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539)
wp.org #10 6 too low 5 
Nelio Content – Editorial Calendar & Social Media Auto-Posting 3K+ · 4.4★ (104)
wp.org #7 2 too low 6 
WP User Manager – Registration Form, Login Form, User Profile Builder & Member Directory 10K+ · 4.7★ (350) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #8 2 too low 7 
Frontend Post Submission Manager Lite – Guest Post and Frontend Submission Forms 1K+ · 4.5★ (22) thin reviews
wp.org #5 2 too high 8 
Guest posting / Frontend Posting / Front Editor – WP Front User Submit 100+ · 5.0★ (22) not PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #6 2 too high 9 Kadence Security – Password, Two Factor Authentication, and Brute Force Protection 700K+ · 4.6★ (3992)
wp.org #19 10 too low 10 
Easy Post Submission – Frontend Posting, Guest Publishing & Submit Content for WordPress 4K+ · 4.5★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #3 ↓1 7 too high 11 
weDocs: AI Powered Knowledge Base, Docs, Documentation, Wiki & AI Chatbot 5K+ · 4.6★ (69)
wp.org #12 1 too low 12 
WP Event Manager – Events Calendar, Registrations, Sell Tickets with WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.0★ (249)
wp.org #15 ↑1 3 too low 13 
Tablesome Table – Contact Form DB – WPForms, CF7, Gravity, Forminator, Fluent 7K+ · 4.8★ (89) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #11 2 too high 14 
Simple Job Board 10K+ · 4.7★ (133) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #13 1 too high 15 
Ajaxify Comments – Ajax and Lazy Loading Comments 3K+ · 4.8★ (91)
wp.org #20 ↑3 5 too low 16 
Schema & Structured Data for WP & AMP 100K+ · 4.5★ (252) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #16 ↓2 17 
Bit Social – Social Media Auto Poster and Scheduler 6K+ · 4.5★ (36)
wp.org #14 ↑1 3 too high 18 
Gwolle Guestbook 20K+ · 4.8★ (113)
wp.org #24 ↓6 6 too low 19 
Listdom: AI-powered Business Directory with Classifieds Ads Listings 1K+ · 4.9★ (60)
wp.org #23 4 too low 20 
CM Search And Replace – Optimize content edits with a powerful search and replace tool 2K+ · 4.2★ (15) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #18 ↑3 2 too high 21 
CubeWP Framework 3K+ · 4.8★ (12) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #22 ↑2 1 too low 22 B BuddyPress Groupblog 50+ · 3.3★ (11) thin reviews
wp.org #21 ↓1 1 too high 23 A Airy Frontend Forms 50+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #9 14 too high 24 
Editor Cleanup For Divi Builder: FDP add-on to cleanup the Divi Builder frontend editor 30+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #17 7 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.