Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “oldest”

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 “oldest”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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

Post Layouts shows at wp.org #13 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 900+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.5★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Login With Ajax – Fast Logins, 2FA, Redirects places #7 on merit, 4.6★ from 167 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 wp.org
1 Comments – wpDiscuz 60K+ · 4.7★ (581) wp.org #1 2 Loggedin – Session Manager: Limit Concurrent Logins & Auto Logout 8K+ · 4.9★ (112) wp.org #2 3 Delete Duplicate Posts 10K+ · 4.8★ (153) wp.org #4 ↑2 1 too low 4 Duplicate Post 300K+ · 4.9★ (1623) wp.org #7 ↓2 3 too low 5 Cool Timeline (Horizontal & Vertical Timeline) 20K+ · 4.7★ (333) wp.org #8 ↑1 3 too low 6 More Sorting Options for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.3★ (11) wp.org #3 3 too high 7 Login With Ajax – Fast Logins, 2FA, Redirects 10K+ · 4.6★ (167) wp.org #12 ↑1 5 too low 8 Chronological Posts 1K+ · 4.9★ (12) wp.org #5 ↑3 3 too high 9 Secure Gateway for Authorize.net and WooCommerce by Pledged Plugins 10K+ · 4.9★ (34) wp.org #9 ↑2 10 WP-DBManager 50K+ · 4.4★ (95) wp.org #11 ↑1 1 too low 11 AnWP Post Grid and Post Carousel Slider for Elementor 20K+ · 4.9★ (84) wp.org #14 ↓10 3 too low 12 Otter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder for Gutenberg Editor & FSE 300K+ · 4.7★ (251) wp.org #16 ↑1 4 too low 13 P Post Order By Category 900+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #6 ↑1 7 too high 14 Persistent Login 5K+ · 3.9★ (26) wp.org #10 4 too high 15 Flex Posts – Responsive Posts Block 2K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #21 6 too low 16 Disqus Comment System 30K+ · 2.7★ (219) wp.org #20 ↓1 4 too low 17 Random Post Plugin – Redirect URL to Post 3K+ · 5.0★ (20) wp.org #24 ↓1 7 too low 18 RSS Feed Widget 2K+ · 3.9★ (26) wp.org #18 19 CatFolders – WordPress Media Library Folders & Categories 6K+ · 4.3★ (22) wp.org #23 ↑1 4 too low 20 Users Registration Date – Sortable Users Column 3K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #15 5 too high 21 Gutenify – Visual Site Builder Blocks & Starter Templates 5K+ · 4.5★ (11) wp.org #22 1 too low 22 Timeline Blocks 400+ · 4.8★ (5) wp.org #17 ↓1 5 too high 23 Pledged Plugins PCI Gateway for NMI and WooCommerce 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #19 ↓1 4 too high 24 Post Layouts 900+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #13 ↑1 11 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.