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

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 cloning”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

WP Clone any post type shows at wp.org #7 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 400+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.7★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes places #7 on merit, 4.9★ from 491 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Migrate Guru – Site Migration & Cloning 200K+ · 4.9★ (1645) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Yoast Duplicate Post 3M+ · 4.7★ (538) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #6 ↓1 3 too low 4 Clone Posts 10K+ · 4.3★ (22) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too high 5 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #9 4 too low 6 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes 300K+ · 4.9★ (491) wp.org #13 6 too low 8 NS Cloner – Site Cloner and Multisite Duplicator 6K+ · 4.7★ (279) wp.org #11 3 too low 9 Meta Box – A Framework for Dynamic Websites 500K+ · 4.8★ (165) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 Fast Page & Post Duplicator 50K+ · 4.7★ (13) wp.org #5 ↑2 5 too high 11 ManageWP Worker 1M+ · 4.6★ (679) wp.org #15 ↓1 4 too low 12 Wicked Folders – Folder Organizer for Pages, Posts, and Custom Post Types 20K+ · 4.9★ (56) wp.org #12 13 Maps Widget for Google Maps 20K+ · 4.6★ (512) wp.org #20 ↑1 7 too low 14 Duplicate Page or Post 9K+ · 4.0★ (8) wp.org #4 ↑2 10 too high 15 Image Hover Effects Ultimate ( Image Gallery, Effects, Lightbox, Comparison & Magnifier ) 10K+ · 4.7★ (250) wp.org #24 9 too low 16 U Unique Headers 10K+ · 4.9★ (160) wp.org #16 ↓1 17 Page Builder: Pagelayer – Drag and Drop website builder 400K+ · 3.9★ (104) wp.org #17 ↓1 18 Announcer – Sticky Message Banner & Notification Bar 10K+ · 4.8★ (40) wp.org #19 1 too low 19 Royal MCP – Secure AI Connector for Claude, ChatGPT & any LLM via MCP 10K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #14 ↑3 5 too high 20 BeyondWords – AI audio for publishers 800+ · 3.6★ (27) wp.org #23 3 too low 21 WP Clone any post type 400+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #7 ↑1 14 too high 22 Clone / Duplicate Orders for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 23 Appsfruit Page & Post Cloner 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 5 too high 24 Super SEO Content Cloner 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 ↓1 3 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.