wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “new 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 “new posts”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 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

Yoast Duplicate Post shows at wp.org #6 but places #11 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 3M+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.7★ average from 538 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 #4 on merit, 4.8★ from 27821 reviews, but shows at wp.org #10. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Duplicate Post 300K+ · 4.9★ (1623) wp.org #1 2

Post Types Order 600K+ · 4.5★ (296) wp.org #3 4

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #10 ↑8 6 too low 5

New User Approve 20K+ · 4.3★ (131) wp.org #5 ↑3 6

Noptin – Newsletter, New Post Notifications & Email Automation 10K+ · 4.5★ (120) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #4 3 too high 8 P Posts 2 Posts 9K+ · 4.8★ (101) wp.org #7 ↓2 1 too high 9

Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails 100K+ · 4.8★ (215) wp.org #9 ↑2 10

Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1526) wp.org #15 5 too low 11

Yoast Duplicate Post 3M+ · 4.7★ (538) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #6 5 too high 12

SchedulePress – Auto Post & Publish, Auto Social Share, Schedule Posts with Editorial Calendar & Missed Schedule Post Publisher 10K+ · 4.6★ (201) wp.org #11 ↓1 1 too high 13

List category posts 80K+ · 4.7★ (254) wp.org #12 1 too high 14

Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588) wp.org #16 ↓7 2 too low 15

Category Posts Block 40K+ · 4.5★ (79) wp.org #14 ↑1 1 too high 16

Blog Designer Pack – Blog, Post Grid, Post Slider, Post Carousel, Category Post, News 30K+ · 4.7★ (79) wp.org #17 ↓1 18

Delete Duplicate Posts 10K+ · 4.8★ (153) wp.org #21 ↓2 3 too low 19

Custom Post Type UI 1M+ · 4.6★ (276) wp.org #18 1 too high 20

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #23 ↑1 3 too low 21

XML Sitemap & Google News 100K+ · 4.4★ (85) wp.org #20 1 too high 22

Hide Posts 20K+ · 4.7★ (22) thin reviews wp.org #24 ↓3 1 too low 24

Unlist Posts & Pages 10K+ · 4.7★ (15) thin reviews wp.org #22 ↓2 2 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.