wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “post name”
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 name”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 4 of the top 20.
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
Duplicate Post – duplicate pages, copy content, clone posts shows at wp.org #9 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 5K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.7★ average from 7 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Duplicate Post places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 1623 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Custom Post Type UI 1M+ · 4.6★ (276)
wp.org #1 ↑3 2 
Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528)
wp.org #2 ↓1 3 
Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (587)
wp.org #3 ↓1 4 
Post Views Counter 100K+ · 4.9★ (1236)
wp.org #5 ↑8 1 too low 5 
Schedule Post Changes With PublishPress Future: Unpublish, Delete, Change Status, Trash, Change Categories 100K+ · 4.5★ (172)
wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too high 6 
Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1525)
wp.org #11 ↓1 5 too low 7 
The Post Grid – Shortcode, Gutenberg Blocks and Elementor Addon for Post Grid 100K+ · 4.8★ (265)
wp.org #8 ↓1 1 too low 8 
Ultimate Post Kit – Elementor Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider & Blog Layout Widgets 30K+ · 4.8★ (58)
wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too high 9 
Name Directory 2K+ · 4.9★ (81)
wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too high 10 
Smart Post – Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider Gutenberg Blocks for Blog & News 20K+ · 4.7★ (210) heavy footprint
wp.org #10 ↓2 11 Duplicate Post 300K+ · 4.9★ (1623)
wp.org #17 ↓8 6 too low 12 
Post Grid 30K+ · 4.3★ (163)
wp.org #13 ↓1 1 too low 13 
Custom Post Type Permalinks 200K+ · 4.8★ (71)
wp.org #12 ↓1 1 too high 14 
Cyrlitera – Transliteration of Links and File Names 40K+ · 4.6★ (62)
wp.org #16 2 too low 15 
Post Slider and Post Carousel with Post Vertical Scrolling Widget – A Responsive Post Slider 10K+ · 4.7★ (31)
wp.org #14 1 too high 16 
AnWP Post Grid and Post Carousel Slider for Elementor 20K+ · 4.9★ (84)
wp.org #23 ↓3 7 too low 17 
Auto Featured Image (Auto Post Thumbnail) 40K+ · 3.8★ (119) not PHP-current
wp.org #18 ↑5 1 too low 18 A ACF Post-2-Post 3K+ · 5.0★ (39)
wp.org #24 ↓3 6 too low 19 ( (Simply) Guest Author Name 2K+ · 4.7★ (23) thin reviews
wp.org #19 ↓2 20 Duplicate Post – duplicate pages, copy content, clone posts 5K+ · 4.7★ (7) thin reviews
wp.org #9 11 too high 21 
Advanced Post Block – Display Your Posts Exactly How You Want 10K+ · 4.2★ (17) not PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #21 ↓3 22 
Smart Custom Display Name 200+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #20 2 too high 23 
Rename WP Media Files Name 500+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #22 ↓3 1 too high 24 
Themify Portfolio Post 30K+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #15 9 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.