wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “post article”

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 “post article”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

Advanced Post Block – Display Your Posts Exactly How You Want shows at wp.org #7 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 17 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP RSS Aggregator – RSS Import, Feed to Post, Autoblogging, AI Content places #10 on merit, 4.5★ from 565 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588) wp.org #1 2

Schedule Post Changes With PublishPress Future: Unpublish, Delete, Change Status, Trash, Change Categories 100K+ · 4.5★ (172) wp.org #2 3

The Post Grid – Shortcode, Gutenberg Blocks and Elementor Addon for Post Grid 100K+ · 4.8★ (265) wp.org #3 4

Smart Post – Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider Gutenberg Blocks for Blog & News 20K+ · 4.7★ (210) wp.org #4 5

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #6 1 too low 6

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27820) wp.org #9 3 too low 7

Table of Contents Plus – Automatic Table of Contents for Posts & Pages 200K+ · 4.5★ (187) wp.org #5 2 too high 8

All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #11 3 too low 9

Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7520) wp.org #12 3 too low 10

WP RSS Aggregator – RSS Import, Feed to Post, Autoblogging, AI Content 40K+ · 4.5★ (565) wp.org #15 5 too low 11

MWW Scheduled Post Trigger 60K+ · 4.4★ (27) wp.org #8 3 too high 12

Revive Social – Social Media Auto Post and Scheduling Automation Plugin 20K+ · 4.0★ (556) wp.org #17 5 too low 13

Advanced Post Block – Display Your Posts Exactly How You Want 10K+ · 4.2★ (17) thin reviews wp.org #7 8 too high 16

Post to Google My Business (Google Business Profile) 10K+ · 4.9★ (159) wp.org #22 6 too low 17

Better Post & Filter Widgets for Elementor 4K+ · 5.0★ (18) thin reviews wp.org #18 1 too low 18

Post Carousel Divi 2K+ · 4.9★ (12) thin reviews wp.org #16 2 too high 19

Hide Posts 20K+ · 4.7★ (22) thin reviews wp.org #21 2 too low 20

Social Post Flow – Social Media Automation, Scheduling, Scheduler, Posting & Auto Post 200+ · 4.2★ (10) thin reviews wp.org #13 7 too high 21

WP Hide Post — Hide Posts, Pages, Custom Post Types, and Control Products Visibility for WooCommerce 3K+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #14 7 too high 22 P Post Order By Category 900+ · 5.0★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #23 1 too low 23

Post Grid & Post Slider – Carousel, Filter Tabs & Related Posts 1K+ · 4.3★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #20 3 too high 24

Helpful – Article Feedback Plugin 600+ · 4.4★ (8) 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.