wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “post link”
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 link”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20. 5 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
Broken Link Checker by AIOSEO – Find & Fix Broken Internal, External & Video Links shows at wp.org #11 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 200K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.8★ average from 87 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
The Post Grid – Shortcode, Gutenberg Blocks and Elementor Addon for Post Grid places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 265 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.
PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322)
wp.org #2 ↓1 1 too low 2 
Broken Link Checker 500K+ · 3.8★ (605) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #1 ↑2 1 too high 3 
Post Types Order 600K+ · 4.5★ (296)
wp.org #3 ↓1 4 
Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528)
wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too low 5 
Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (587)
wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too low 6 
Post Views Counter 100K+ · 4.9★ (1236)
wp.org #9 3 too low 7 
Custom Post Type UI 1M+ · 4.6★ (276)
wp.org #5 ↑4 2 too high 8 
Yoast Duplicate Post 3M+ · 4.7★ (538) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #4 4 too high 9 
Schedule Post Changes With PublishPress Future: Unpublish, Delete, Change Status, Trash, Change Categories 100K+ · 4.5★ (172)
wp.org #10 1 too low 10 The Post Grid – Shortcode, Gutenberg Blocks and Elementor Addon for Post Grid 100K+ · 4.8★ (265)
wp.org #15 ↑1 5 too low 11 
Link Library 10K+ · 4.7★ (97) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #8 ↓1 3 too high 12 
Post Duplicator 200K+ · 4.8★ (80)
wp.org #12 ↓1 13 
Ultimate Post Kit – Elementor Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider & Blog Layout Widgets 30K+ · 4.8★ (58)
wp.org #13 ↓1 14 
Post Type Switcher 200K+ · 4.8★ (255)
wp.org #18 ↑1 4 too low 15 
Custom Post Type Permalinks 200K+ · 4.8★ (71)
wp.org #14 ↑1 1 too high 16 
Public Post Preview 100K+ · 4.6★ (79)
wp.org #17 ↓3 1 too low 17 
Smart Post – Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider Gutenberg Blocks for Blog & News 20K+ · 4.7★ (210) heavy footprint
wp.org #22 5 too low 18 Broken Link Checker by AIOSEO – Find & Fix Broken Internal, External & Video Links 200K+ · 3.8★ (87) not PHP-current
wp.org #11 ↓3 7 too high 19 
Link Whisper Free 30K+ · 4.2★ (150)
wp.org #20 ↓2 1 too low 20 
Visual Link Preview 10K+ · 4.5★ (36)
wp.org #16 ↓3 4 too high 21 
Rate My Post – Star Rating Plugin by FeedbackWP 20K+ · 4.7★ (159) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #19 ↑4 2 too high 22 
Internal Links Manager 10K+ · 4.8★ (33)
wp.org #23 ↓3 1 too low 23 
Duplicate Post – duplicate pages, copy content, clone posts 5K+ · 4.7★ (7) thin reviews
wp.org #21 2 too high 24 
VK Link Target Controller 30K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #24 ↓3 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.