Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “frontier post”

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 “frontier post”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20. 3 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

FreshRank – Instant Feedback for Better Content shows at wp.org #6 but places #12 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 10+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #1 2 AI Translate: Affordable Context-Aware Translation 70+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #2 3 Frontier Restrict Media 300+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #3 4 Tag Pages 10K+ · 4.9★ (18) wp.org #16 12 too low 5 Frontier Restrict Backend 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #5 6 Frontier Set Featured 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 AI Chatbot & Semantic Search: ChatGPT Answers From Your Content 100+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 W WP PGP Encrypted Emails 300+ · 4.6★ (16) wp.org #23 15 too low 9 F Frontiers Hide Author Name — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 2 too high 10 AI Provider for MiniMax – AI Text & Image Generation Connector 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 11 Frontier Buttons 40+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #21 10 too low 12 FreshRank – Instant Feedback for Better Content 10+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #6 6 too high 13 AI Provider for exo — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 2 too high 14 Frontier Query 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 6 too high 15 DadsFam SEO 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↑1 3 too high 16 Invent Chat Widget — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↓1 3 too high 17 DB AI Field Generator for Advanced Custom Fields — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↑1 3 too high 18 Generatify – All-in-One Artificial Intelligence (AI) — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↓1 3 too high 19 RefreshRank – Content Decay Detection & AI Refresh — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 2 too high 20 Prozen AI Proofreader — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 2 too high 21 AI News 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 2 too high 22 Athena AI Content Assistant — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 2 too high 23 Categorize Pages 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 ProLocker — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24

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.