wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “hierarchical 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 “hierarchical posts”, we and wp.org disagree 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.
Ranked above its merit
Reorder Posts – Quick Post Type and Page Ordering shows at wp.org #6 but places #13 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.9★ average from 28 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction places #11 on merit, 4.7★ from 270 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.
Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423)
wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too low 2 
Hierarchical HTML Sitemap 4K+ · 5.0★ (12) thin reviews
wp.org #1 1 too high 3 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322)
wp.org #4 1 too low 4 
Post Types Order 600K+ · 4.5★ (296)
wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too high 5 
Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588)
wp.org #7 2 too low 6 
Post Duplicator 200K+ · 4.8★ (80)
wp.org #5 1 too high 7 P Page-list 30K+ · 4.7★ (89)
wp.org #8 1 too low 8 
Permalink Manager Lite 100K+ · 4.8★ (176)
wp.org #10 ↑1 2 too low 9 
Table of Contents Plus – Automatic Table of Contents for Posts & Pages 200K+ · 4.5★ (187)
wp.org #9 10 
Bulk Edit Posts and Products in Spreadsheet 7K+ · 4.8★ (217)
wp.org #11 ↑1 1 too low 11 Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction 10K+ · 4.7★ (270)
wp.org #16 ↑2 5 too low 12 
Category Order and Taxonomy Terms Order 500K+ · 4.5★ (162)
wp.org #12 ↑1 13 Reorder Posts – Quick Post Type and Page Ordering 10K+ · 3.9★ (28)
wp.org #6 7 too high 14 
Custom Post Type Permalinks 200K+ · 4.8★ (71)
wp.org #13 ↑1 1 too high 15 R Really Simple CSV Importer 40K+ · 4.9★ (107)
wp.org #18 ↑1 3 too low 16 
Simple Page Ordering 100K+ · 4.7★ (131)
wp.org #19 ↑1 3 too low 17 
Category Posts in Custom Menu 2K+ · 4.8★ (43)
wp.org #14 ↑1 3 too high 18 
Dynamic Widgets 10K+ · 4.7★ (109)
wp.org #24 6 too low 19 
Gravity Forms + Custom Post Types 10K+ · 4.4★ (46)
wp.org #17 2 too high 20 
Post My CF7 Form 2K+ · 4.8★ (48)
wp.org #23 ↑1 3 too low 21 
MB Custom Post Types & Custom Taxonomies 10K+ · 4.7★ (13) thin reviews
wp.org #15 ↑1 6 too high 22 C Custom Post Type Widgets 10K+ · 4.8★ (14) thin reviews
wp.org #21 ↑1 1 too high 23 
F4 Post Tree 600+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #22 ↑1 1 too high 24 
Endless Posts Navigation 100+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #20 ↑1 4 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.