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

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 formatting”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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.

Ranked above its merit

Social Post Flow – Social Media Automation, Scheduling, Scheduler, Posting & Auto Post shows at wp.org #8 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 10 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

SchedulePress – Auto Post & Publish, Auto Social Share, Schedule Posts with Editorial Calendar & Missed Schedule Post Publisher places #11 on merit, 4.6★ from 201 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #1 2 Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (587) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Schedule Post Changes With PublishPress Future: Unpublish, Delete, Change Status, Trash, Change Categories 100K+ · 4.5★ (172) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 The Post Grid – Shortcode, Gutenberg Blocks and Elementor Addon for Post Grid 100K+ · 4.8★ (265) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Post Duplicator 200K+ · 4.8★ (80) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too low 7 Post and Page Builder by BoldGrid – Visual Drag and Drop Editor 50K+ · 4.7★ (140) wp.org #10 ↓1 3 too low 8 Category Posts Block 40K+ · 4.5★ (79) wp.org #11 ↓1 3 too low 9 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #21 ↑1 12 too low 10 Blog Designer Pack – Blog, Post Grid, Post Slider, Post Carousel, Category Post, News 30K+ · 4.7★ (79) wp.org #17 ↑1 7 too low 11 SchedulePress – Auto Post & Publish, Auto Social Share, Schedule Posts with Editorial Calendar & Missed Schedule Post Publisher 10K+ · 4.6★ (201) wp.org #24 13 too low 12 Gravity Forms + Custom Post Types 10K+ · 4.4★ (46) wp.org #15 3 too low 13 Duplicate Post – duplicate pages, copy content, clone posts 5K+ · 4.7★ (7) wp.org #6 ↑2 7 too high 14 Australia Post WooCommerce Extension 3K+ · 4.4★ (19) wp.org #12 2 too high 15 Post Pay Counter 1K+ · 4.8★ (46) wp.org #14 1 too high 16 Weaver Show Posts 5K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #9 ↓2 7 too high 17 Fast Page & Post Duplicator 50K+ · 4.7★ (13) wp.org #13 4 too high 18 Category Posts in Custom Menu 2K+ · 4.8★ (43) wp.org #22 ↑1 4 too low 19 Social Post Flow – Social Media Automation, Scheduling, Scheduler, Posting & Auto Post 200+ · 4.2★ (10) wp.org #8 ↑3 11 too high 20 Dynamic Month & Year into Posts 8K+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #23 ↑1 3 too low 21 Event Post 1K+ · 4.3★ (35) wp.org #18 ↑1 3 too high 22 SmartDoc to Post Importer 300+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #20 ↑1 2 too high 23 Preserve Code Formatting 400+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #16 7 too high 24 Advanced Post Manager 4K+ · 3.5★ (11) wp.org #19 ↑1 5 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.