wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “listed 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 “listed posts”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Advanced Related Posts shows at wp.org #14 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 300+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 27821 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails 100K+ · 4.8★ (215) wp.org #1 2

List category posts 80K+ · 4.7★ (254) wp.org #3 4

Delete Duplicate Posts 10K+ · 4.8★ (153) wp.org #4 5

Table of Contents Plus – Automatic Table of Contents for Posts & Pages 200K+ · 4.5★ (187) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too low 6

Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) not PHP-current wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too low 7

The Post Grid – Shortcode, Gutenberg Blocks and Elementor Addon for Post Grid 100K+ · 4.8★ (265) wp.org #11 4 too low 8

Hide Posts 20K+ · 4.7★ (22) thin reviews wp.org #5 3 too high 9

Ultimate Post Kit – Elementor Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider & Blog Layout Widgets 30K+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #8 1 too high 10

Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) heavy footprint wp.org #12 ↓1 2 too low 11

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #19 ↑2 8 too low 12

Category Posts in Custom Menu 2K+ · 4.8★ (43) wp.org #10 2 too high 13

W4 Post List 3K+ · 4.7★ (94) wp.org #13 ↓1 14

WP RSS Aggregator – RSS Import, Feed to Post, Autoblogging, AI Content 40K+ · 4.5★ (565) wp.org #20 ↓2 6 too low 15

CCI Posts Carousel All In One 2K+ · 4.6★ (27) wp.org #9 6 too high 16

MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) heavy footprint wp.org #18 ↓5 2 too low 17

MC4WP: Mailchimp for WordPress 1M+ · 4.8★ (1497) wp.org #21 ↓2 4 too low 18

Security Optimizer – The All-In-One Protection Plugin 1M+ · 4.5★ (157) wp.org #16 ↓1 2 too high 19

List all posts by Authors, nested Categories and Titles 600+ · 5.0★ (10) thin reviews wp.org #15 ↑1 4 too high 20

Flamingo 800K+ · 4.2★ (121) not PHP-current wp.org #24 ↓2 4 too low 21

Better Post & Filter Widgets for Elementor 4K+ · 5.0★ (18) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #17 4 too high 22

Magazine Blocks – Blog Designer, Magazine & Newspaper Website Builder, Page Builder with Posts Blocks, Post Grid 6K+ · 4.9★ (11) heavy footprint thin reviews wp.org #22 ↓2 23

Authors Posts Widget 80+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #23 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.