wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “group 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 “group posts”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 2 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
Magical Posts Display – Elementor Advanced Posts widgets shows at wp.org #11 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.4★ average from 10 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 14387 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails 100K+ · 4.8★ (215)
wp.org #1 2 
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143)
wp.org #2 3 
Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519)
wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 
Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots 10K+ · 4.8★ (142)
wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too high 5 
Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (587)
wp.org #5 6 
Delete Duplicate Posts 10K+ · 4.8★ (153)
wp.org #6 7 
Groups – Memberships and Access Control 10K+ · 4.8★ (382)
wp.org #8 1 too low 8 
SchedulePress – Auto Post & Publish, Auto Social Share, Schedule Posts with Editorial Calendar & Missed Schedule Post Publisher 10K+ · 4.6★ (201)
wp.org #7 1 too high 9 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387)
wp.org #15 ↑1 6 too low 10 
BuddyPress 90K+ · 4.1★ (375)
wp.org #10 ↓1 11 
ProfileGrid – User Profiles, Groups and Communities 5K+ · 4.6★ (236) not PHP-current
wp.org #9 ↑4 2 too high 12 
Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463) not PHP-current
wp.org #18 6 too low 13 
Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418)
wp.org #20 ↓3 7 too low 14 
Schedule Post Changes With PublishPress Future: Unpublish, Delete, Change Status, Trash, Change Categories 100K+ · 4.5★ (172)
wp.org #17 ↓3 3 too low 15 
Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528)
wp.org #21 ↓9 6 too low 16 
Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) heavy footprint
wp.org #16 17 
Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445)
wp.org #24 ↓5 7 too low 18 
Bulk Edit Posts and Products in Spreadsheet 7K+ · 4.8★ (217)
wp.org #22 ↓2 4 too low 19 P Private groups 1K+ · 4.9★ (49) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #12 ↓1 7 too high 20 
PublishPress Tag Groups: Stylish Displays For Your Tags and Categories 3K+ · 4.8★ (57)
wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too high 21 
CCI Posts Carousel All In One 2K+ · 4.6★ (27)
wp.org #23 ↓2 2 too low 22 Magical Posts Display – Elementor Advanced Posts widgets 3K+ · 4.4★ (10) thin reviews
wp.org #11 ↓1 11 too high 23 
Duplicate Post – duplicate pages, copy content, clone posts 5K+ · 4.7★ (7) thin reviews
wp.org #13 10 too high 24 
Button Group 100+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #14 ↑1 10 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.