Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “paginated 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 “paginated posts”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Posts to PDF – Backend Batch Export shows at wp.org #6 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 18 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

YARPP – Yet Another Related Posts Plugin places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 1165 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 Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588) wp.org #1 2 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Latest Post Shortcode 4K+ · 4.8★ (46) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Pagination by BestWebSoft – Customizable WordPress Content Splitter and Navigation Plugin 5K+ · 4.8★ (45) wp.org #4 ↑3 5 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267) wp.org #9 4 too low 6 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #10 ↓5 4 too low 7 Footnotes Made Easy 2K+ · 4.6★ (40) wp.org #5 ↓1 2 too high 8 Export All URLs 50K+ · 4.6★ (94) wp.org #8 ↓2 9 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #14 ↑1 5 too low 10 YARPP – Yet Another Related Posts Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (1165) wp.org #19 ↓2 9 too low 11 CMS Tree Page View – Reorder Pages with a Drag-and-Drop Tree 50K+ · 4.9★ (365) wp.org #17 ↓5 6 too low 12 Xpro Theme Builder For Elementor – FREE 20K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #7 ↑2 5 too high 13 Prime Slider – Hero Slider, Carousel, WooCommerce & Post Slider Elementor Addons 100K+ · 4.5★ (82) wp.org #13 ↑1 14 Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) wp.org #15 ↑8 1 too low 15 Export Media URLs 7K+ · 5.0★ (29) wp.org #11 ↑2 4 too high 16 Display Posts – Easy lists, grids, navigation, and more 70K+ · 4.8★ (164) wp.org #22 ↓3 6 too low 17 Super RSS Reader – Add attractive RSS Feed Widget 9K+ · 4.6★ (67) wp.org #20 3 too low 18 WP Maps – Google Maps, OpenStreetMap, Mapbox, Store Locator with Search, Filters & Listings 60K+ · 4.3★ (122) wp.org #16 2 too high 19 Enable Abilities for MCP 5K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #18 ↑3 1 too high 20 jQuery Post Splitter 100+ · 4.6★ (37) wp.org #24 4 too low 21 ThinkRank SEO – AI SEO Plugin for SEO & Google Search Console 20K+ · 4.9★ (36) wp.org #23 ↓5 2 too low 22 TableKit – WordPress Table Builder for Data Tables, WooCommerce Product Tables & Post Tables 3K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #12 ↓4 10 too high 23 Footnotes & Content 100+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #21 ↑1 2 too high 24 Posts to PDF – Backend Batch Export 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 ↑4 18 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.