Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 metadata”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

View User Metadata shows at wp.org #10 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager places #7 on merit, 5.0★ from 1525 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too low 2 JSM Show Post Metadata 10K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Schedule Post Changes With PublishPress Future: Unpublish, Delete, Change Status, Trash, Change Categories 100K+ · 4.5★ (172) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 Post Views Counter 100K+ · 4.9★ (1236) wp.org #5 ↑6 1 too low 5 Post Duplicator 200K+ · 4.8★ (80) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too low 6 Post Type Switcher 200K+ · 4.8★ (255) wp.org #9 ↓1 3 too low 7 Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1525) wp.org #15 ↓1 8 too low 8 Ultimate Post Kit – Elementor Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider & Blog Layout Widgets 30K+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #8 ↓1 9 Hide/Remove Metadata 20K+ · 3.6★ (14) wp.org #4 5 too high 10 Post Grid 30K+ · 4.3★ (163) wp.org #14 ↓1 4 too low 11 bbPress 100K+ · 3.9★ (343) wp.org #19 ↓1 8 too low 12 Hide Page And Post Title 40K+ · 3.6★ (54) wp.org #20 ↓1 8 too low 13 Duplicate Page and Post 70K+ · 4.6★ (29) wp.org #17 4 too low 14 Duplicate Post – duplicate pages, copy content, clone posts 5K+ · 4.7★ (7) wp.org #12 ↑10 2 too high 15 Advanced Post Block – Display Your Posts Exactly How You Want 10K+ · 4.2★ (17) wp.org #16 1 too low 16 Display Post Metadata 400+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #7 ↓1 9 too high 17 Post Type Transfer 2K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #21 ↑2 4 too low 18 C Custom Metadata Manager 700+ · 4.4★ (5) wp.org #13 ↓1 5 too high 19 Metadata Viewer 500+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #11 ↓1 8 too high 20 Advanced Post Manager 4K+ · 3.5★ (11) wp.org #22 ↓2 2 too low 21 Social Post Flow – Social Media Automation, Scheduling, Scheduler, Posting & Auto Post 200+ · 4.2★ (10) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 Export Single Post Page 3K+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #23 ↓2 1 too low 23 JSM Show User Metadata 3K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 ↓3 5 too high 24 View User Metadata 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 ↓1 14 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.