Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “paged 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 “paged post”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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.

W

Ranked above its merit

WP Print Friendly shows at wp.org #5 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 500+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.5★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Ajax Load More – Infinite Scroll, Load More, & Lazy Load places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 287 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 wp.org
1 Seraphinite Post .DOCX Source 800+ · 4.6★ (45) wp.org #1 2 WP 404 Auto Redirect to Similar Post 30K+ · 4.9★ (113) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 jQuery Post Splitter 100+ · 4.6★ (37) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Head & Footer Code 100K+ · 5.0★ (51) wp.org #4 5 Gallery by Visual Portfolio 50K+ · 4.8★ (340) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267) wp.org #14 8 too low 7 Widget Options – Advanced Conditional Visibility for Gutenberg Blocks & Classic Widgets 100K+ · 4.9★ (1516) wp.org #16 9 too low 8 Ajax Load More – Infinite Scroll, Load More, & Lazy Load 30K+ · 4.8★ (287) wp.org #19 11 too low 9 Ditty – Responsive News Tickers, Sliders, and Lists 30K+ · 4.6★ (106) wp.org #9 10 SpeedyCache – Cache, Optimization, Performance 500K+ · 4.4★ (30) wp.org #6 4 too high 11 FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995) wp.org #20 9 too low 12 AI Puffer – AI Chatbot & MCP Server for Claude and ChatGPT 10K+ · 4.6★ (166) wp.org #21 9 too low 13 Breadcrumb Block 2K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #10 3 too high 14 SimpLy Gallery 40K+ · 4.8★ (118) wp.org #24 10 too low 15 Dynamic XML Sitemaps Generator for Google 20K+ · 4.7★ (47) wp.org #18 3 too low 16 Widget Context 30K+ · 4.5★ (98) wp.org #15 1 too high 17 Banhammer – Monitor Site Traffic, Block Bad Users and Bots 1K+ · 4.4★ (19) wp.org #13 4 too high 18 Footnotes & Content 100+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #12 6 too high 19 Atlant Security 700+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #22 3 too low 20 WP-DraftsForFriends 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #23 3 too low 21 W WP Print Friendly 500+ · 3.5★ (2) wp.org #5 16 too high 22 Custom Posts Per Page Reloaded 600+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 11 too high 23 V View All Post's Pages 100+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #7 16 too high 24 Users Bulk Delete With Preview 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 7 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.