wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “move 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 “move posts”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 3 plugins are 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

Move Addons for Elementor shows at wp.org #5 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 6 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 #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 27821 reviews, but shows at wp.org #12. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Schedule Post Changes With PublishPress Future: Unpublish, Delete, Change Status, Trash, Change Categories 100K+ · 4.5★ (172) wp.org #2 1 too low 2

Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1526) wp.org #4 ↑1 2 too low 3

Copy Move Posts 400+ · 4.8★ (10) thin reviews wp.org #1 2 too high 4

Yoast Duplicate Post 3M+ · 4.7★ (538) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #3 1 too high 5

Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588) wp.org #7 2 too low 6

SchedulePress – Auto Post & Publish, Auto Social Share, Schedule Posts with Editorial Calendar & Missed Schedule Post Publisher 10K+ · 4.6★ (201) wp.org #6 7

All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676) wp.org #9 ↑2 2 too low 8

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #12 ↑2 4 too low 9

Delete Duplicate Posts 10K+ · 4.8★ (153) wp.org #8 ↑1 1 too high 10

Post Views Counter 100K+ · 4.9★ (1237) wp.org #13 ↑9 3 too low 11

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #15 ↑1 3 too low 13

Migrate Guru – Site Migration & Cloning 200K+ · 4.9★ (1645) wp.org #20 ↓5 7 too low 14

Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #16 ↓4 2 too low 15

Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #22 ↓4 6 too low 17

Bulk Edit Posts and Products in Spreadsheet 7K+ · 4.8★ (217) wp.org #18 ↓1 1 too low 18

Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) not PHP-current wp.org #14 4 too high 19

Category AJAX Filter – Posts, Custom Post Types & Product Filter 6K+ · 4.9★ (158) wp.org #21 ↓2 2 too low 20

Post Grid 30K+ · 4.3★ (163) wp.org #23 ↓3 3 too low 21

CCI Posts Carousel All In One 2K+ · 4.6★ (27) wp.org #19 2 too high 22

Move Addons for Elementor 2K+ · 4.0★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #5 ↓1 17 too high 23

Duplicate Post – duplicate pages, copy content, clone posts 5K+ · 4.7★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #17 6 too high 24

Post Type Transfer 2K+ · 5.0★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #24

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.