wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “last edited 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 “last edited posts”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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
Auto Post Cleaner shows at wp.org #6 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 1281 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Classic Editor 8M+ · 4.9★ (1251)
wp.org #2 1 too low 2 
Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588)
wp.org #3 1 too low 3 
Admin Dashboard Last Edits 900+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews
wp.org #1 2 too high 4 
Post Duplicator 200K+ · 4.8★ (80)
wp.org #4 5 
Header Footer Code Manager 600K+ · 4.9★ (309)
wp.org #7 2 too low 6 A ACF Post-2-Post 3K+ · 5.0★ (39)
wp.org #5 1 too high 7 
Smart Slider 3 800K+ · 4.9★ (1125)
wp.org #9 ↓1 2 too low 8 
WP RSS Aggregator – RSS Import, Feed to Post, Autoblogging, AI Content 40K+ · 4.5★ (565)
wp.org #11 3 too low 9 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281)
wp.org #13 4 too low 10 
Noptin – Newsletter, New Post Notifications & Email Automation 10K+ · 4.5★ (120)
wp.org #8 2 too high 11 
Starter Templates: AI-Powered Website Templates for Elementor & Gutenberg 1M+ · 4.9★ (4755)
wp.org #14 3 too low 12 
AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini 90K+ · 4.9★ (874)
wp.org #16 4 too low 13 
The SEO Framework – Fast, Automated, Effortless. 200K+ · 4.9★ (380)
wp.org #15 ↑4 2 too low 14 
Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440)
wp.org #19 5 too low 15 
Post Pay Counter 1K+ · 4.8★ (46)
wp.org #12 3 too high 16 
Nginx Helper 200K+ · 4.4★ (31)
wp.org #10 6 too high 17 
XML Sitemap & Google News 100K+ · 4.4★ (85)
wp.org #18 ↓2 1 too low 18 
Gwolle Guestbook 20K+ · 4.8★ (113)
wp.org #24 ↓9 6 too low 19 
Pay For Post with WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.7★ (53)
wp.org #20 ↑2 1 too low 20 
Proxy Cache Purge 50K+ · 4.4★ (26)
wp.org #17 3 too high 21 Auto Post Cleaner 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #6 15 too high 22 
Virtual Robots.txt 40K+ · 4.3★ (10) thin reviews
wp.org #21 ↑2 1 too high 23 
Init Embed Posts – Stylish, Fast, Portable 50+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #22 ↓2 1 too high 24 
Parse.ly 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #23 ↑1 1 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.