wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “post based notification”
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 based notification”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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
Push Notifications for WP – Self Hosted Web Push Notifications shows at wp.org #6 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 18 places. Its 6K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Email Subscribers & Newsletters by Icegram Express – Email Marketing, Post Notifications & WooCommerce Marekting Automation for WordPress places #10 on merit, 4.6★ from 1170 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528)
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 
Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1526)
wp.org #7 ↑1 4 too low 4 
WPFront Notification Bar 40K+ · 4.5★ (131)
wp.org #4 ↓1 5 
Notification – Custom Notifications and Alerts for WordPress 10K+ · 4.6★ (124)
wp.org #5 6 
Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5040)
wp.org #8 ↓1 2 too low 7 
Weight Based Shipping Table Rate for WooCommerce – Flexible Shipping 100K+ · 4.9★ (706)
wp.org #14 7 too low 8 
MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435)
wp.org #13 5 too low 9 
Post Duplicator 200K+ · 4.8★ (80)
wp.org #9 10 Email Subscribers & Newsletters by Icegram Express – Email Marketing, Post Notifications & WooCommerce Marekting Automation for WordPress 50K+ · 4.6★ (1170)
wp.org #18 ↑1 8 too low 11 
Ultimate Post Kit – Elementor Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider & Blog Layout Widgets 30K+ · 4.8★ (58)
wp.org #10 1 too high 12 
Noptin – Newsletter, New Post Notifications & Email Automation 10K+ · 4.5★ (120)
wp.org #12 ↓1 13 
WP Telegram (Auto Post and Notifications) 30K+ · 5.0★ (426)
wp.org #20 7 too low 14 
OneSignal – Web Push Notifications 60K+ · 4.3★ (360)
wp.org #16 2 too low 15 
My Sticky Bar – Floating Notification Bar & Sticky Header (formerly myStickymenu) 100K+ · 4.9★ (1199)
wp.org #24 ↓1 9 too low 16 
Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667)
wp.org #19 3 too low 17 
Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680)
wp.org #23 ↓1 6 too low 18 
Notification Master – Real-Time WordPress Notifications With Email, SMS, Webhooks & More 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #3 ↑1 15 too high 19 
Notivo Notification for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.3★ (80)
wp.org #11 ↑1 8 too high 20 
All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720)
wp.org #21 1 too low 21 
Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807)
wp.org #22 ↓5 1 too low 22 
HashBar – Announcement, Notification Bar & Popup Campaign 9K+ · 4.2★ (38)
wp.org #15 7 too high 23 
Push Notification for Post and BuddyPress 200+ · 4.7★ (24) thin reviews
wp.org #17 ↑1 6 too high 24 Push Notifications for WP – Self Hosted Web Push Notifications 6K+ · 4.2★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #6 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.