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

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 front”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20. 2 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

Advanced Post Block – Display Your Posts Exactly How You Want shows at wp.org #10 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 11 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

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 2144 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Post Types Order 600K+ · 4.5★ (296) wp.org #1 2

Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588) wp.org #4 ↓1 2 too low 3

Yoast Duplicate Post 3M+ · 4.7★ (538) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #2 1 too high 4

Custom Post Type UI 1M+ · 4.6★ (276) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too high 5

User Submitted Posts – Enable Users to Submit Posts from the Front End 10K+ · 4.8★ (913) wp.org #7 2 too low 6

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #8 2 too low 7

Front End PM 4K+ · 4.8★ (220) wp.org #5 2 too high 8

The Post Grid – Shortcode, Gutenberg Blocks and Elementor Addon for Post Grid 100K+ · 4.8★ (265) wp.org #6 2 too high 9

TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #9 10

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #14 ↓2 4 too low 11

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #11 12

AnWP Post Grid and Post Carousel Slider for Elementor 20K+ · 4.9★ (84) wp.org #12 13

UsersWP – Front-end login form, User Registration, User Profile & Members Directory plugin for WP 20K+ · 4.7★ (183) wp.org #17 4 too low 14

Revive Social – Social Media Auto Post and Scheduling Automation Plugin 20K+ · 4.0★ (556) wp.org #18 ↑1 4 too low 15

W4 Post List 3K+ · 4.7★ (94) wp.org #15 ↓2 16

Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445) wp.org #24 ↓10 8 too low 17

Content Views – Post Grid & Filter (Shortcode, Blocks, Elementor Widgets) 100K+ · 4.8★ (333) heavy footprint wp.org #19 ↓1 2 too low 18

Content Blocks (Custom Post Widget) 10K+ · 4.9★ (80) wp.org #22 4 too low 19

Archive Content with Archived Post Status 5K+ · 4.9★ (36) wp.org #16 3 too high 20

Advanced Post Block – Display Your Posts Exactly How You Want 10K+ · 4.2★ (17) not PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #10 11 too high 22

Post Type Transfer 2K+ · 5.0★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #13 ↑7 9 too high 23

Post Types Unlimited 10K+ · 5.0★ (9) thin reviews wp.org #20 ↑1 3 too high 24

Front Page Custom Post Type 90+ · 3.4★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #23 1 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.