wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “hide first posts image”
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 “hide first posts image”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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
WP Hide Post — Hide Posts, Pages, Custom Post Types, and Control Products Visibility for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #8 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
User Submitted Posts – Enable Users to Submit Posts from the Front End places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 913 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Hide My WP Ghost – Security & Firewall 100K+ · 4.5★ (373)
wp.org #1 2 
Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (743)
wp.org #2 3 
Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails 100K+ · 4.8★ (215)
wp.org #3 4 
WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617)
wp.org #5 1 too low 5 
Post Types Order 600K+ · 4.5★ (296)
wp.org #4 1 too high 6 
Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616)
wp.org #6 7 
Featured Image from URL (FIFU) 60K+ · 4.6★ (264)
wp.org #7 8 
Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1525)
wp.org #11 3 too low 9 
Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408)
wp.org #9 10 User Submitted Posts – Enable Users to Submit Posts from the Front End 10K+ · 4.8★ (913)
wp.org #16 6 too low 11 
Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680)
wp.org #17 6 too low 12 
Category Posts Block 40K+ · 4.5★ (79)
wp.org #10 2 too high 13 
Table of Contents Plus – Automatic Table of Contents for Posts & Pages 200K+ · 4.5★ (187)
wp.org #13 14 
Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423)
wp.org #19 5 too low 15 
ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051)
wp.org #21 6 too low 16 
Conditionally display featured image on singular posts and pages 30K+ · 4.8★ (38)
wp.org #12 4 too high 17 
Simple Image Sizes 60K+ · 4.6★ (91)
wp.org #15 2 too high 18 
Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) not PHP-current
wp.org #20 2 too low 19 
ThumbPress – Compress Images, Manage Thumbnails, Detect Image Issues, WebP/AVIF, Lazy Loading, Hotlinking & More 20K+ · 3.7★ (117)
wp.org #14 5 too high 20 
Flex Posts – Responsive Posts Block 2K+ · 5.0★ (24) thin reviews
wp.org #18 2 too high 21 
Image CAPTCHA for Contact Form 7 and WPForms by HookAndHook (DSGVO/GDPR) 70K+ · 4.7★ (49)
wp.org #24 3 too low 22 
Lightbox & Modal Popup WordPress Plugin – FooBox 100K+ · 3.9★ (95)
wp.org #23 1 too low 23 WP Hide Post — Hide Posts, Pages, Custom Post Types, and Control Products Visibility for WooCommerce 3K+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #8 15 too high 24 
Magical Posts Display – Elementor Advanced Posts widgets 3K+ · 4.4★ (10) thin reviews
wp.org #22 2 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.