wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “mark post”

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 “mark post”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

Duplicate Post – duplicate pages, copy content, clone posts shows at wp.org #5 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 5K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.7★ average from 7 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WS Form LITE – Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder places #12 on merit, 5.0★ from 322 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5040) wp.org #1 2

Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1526) wp.org #4 2 too low 3

Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #3 4

Mark Posts 1K+ · 4.8★ (10) thin reviews wp.org #2 2 too high 5

Category Posts Block 40K+ · 4.5★ (79) wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too low 6

WP RSS Aggregator – RSS Import, Feed to Post, Autoblogging, AI Content 40K+ · 4.5★ (565) wp.org #11 ↓3 5 too low 7

Post Pay Counter 1K+ · 4.8★ (46) wp.org #8 ↓1 1 too low 8

Delete Duplicate Posts 10K+ · 4.8★ (153) wp.org #14 ↓2 6 too low 9

RSS Aggregator by Feedzy – Feed to Post, Autoblogging, News & YouTube Video Feeds Aggregator 40K+ · 4.6★ (361) wp.org #16 ↓4 7 too low 10

Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #12 ↑2 2 too low 11

SchedulePress – Auto Post & Publish, Auto Social Share, Schedule Posts with Editorial Calendar & Missed Schedule Post Publisher 10K+ · 4.6★ (201) wp.org #15 4 too low 12

WS Form LITE – Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (322) wp.org #20 ↓2 8 too low 13

Bulk Edit Posts and Products in Spreadsheet 7K+ · 4.8★ (217) wp.org #17 ↓3 4 too low 14

Smart Slider 3 800K+ · 4.9★ (1125) wp.org #21 ↓2 7 too low 15

Event Post 1K+ · 4.3★ (35) wp.org #9 6 too high 16 P Page Links To 100K+ · 4.9★ (157) wp.org #19 ↓2 3 too low 17

Noptin – Newsletter, New Post Notifications & Email Automation 10K+ · 4.5★ (120) wp.org #18 19

Seraphinite Post .DOCX Source 800+ · 4.6★ (45) wp.org #13 ↓2 6 too high 20

Duplicate Post – duplicate pages, copy content, clone posts 5K+ · 4.7★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #5 15 too high 21

WP Post Redirect 3K+ · 4.6★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #6 ↓1 15 too high 22

Blog Filter – Post Grid Filter by Category or Tag 7K+ · 4.9★ (81) wp.org #24 ↓1 2 too low 23

Post Export Import with Media 1K+ · 4.5★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #10 13 too high 24

AI Auto Post & Image Generator 200+ · 4.8★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #23 ↓3 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.