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

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 notes”, 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

KeepInMind Dashboard Notes shows at wp.org #10 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 300+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 9 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 #6 on merit, 5.0★ from 1525 reviews, but shows at wp.org #12. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Peter's Post Notes – Admin Notes for Posts and Pages 3K+ · 4.9★ (26) wp.org #1 ↑2 2 Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #4 ↓2 2 too low 3 Print Invoice & Delivery Notes for WooCommerce 30K+ · 4.4★ (140) wp.org #2 ↓1 1 too high 4 Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (587) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Schedule Post Changes With PublishPress Future: Unpublish, Delete, Change Status, Trash, Change Categories 100K+ · 4.5★ (172) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1525) wp.org #12 ↑9 6 too low 7 Duplicate Post 300K+ · 4.9★ (1623) wp.org #13 ↓3 6 too low 8 Page & Post Notes 1K+ · 4.4★ (14) wp.org #3 ↑1 5 too high 9 Public Post Preview 100K+ · 4.6★ (79) wp.org #9 ↓1 10 Rate My Post – Star Rating Plugin by FeedbackWP 20K+ · 4.7★ (159) wp.org #8 ↑3 2 too high 11 Simple Post Notes 9K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #6 5 too high 12 AnWP Post Grid and Post Carousel Slider for Elementor 20K+ · 4.9★ (84) wp.org #16 4 too low 13 Post Slider and Post Carousel with Post Vertical Scrolling Widget – A Responsive Post Slider 10K+ · 4.7★ (31) wp.org #11 ↑1 2 too high 14 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #18 ↑4 4 too low 15 WP Popular Posts 100K+ · 4.5★ (249) wp.org #23 ↓10 8 too low 16 W4 Post List 3K+ · 4.7★ (94) wp.org #19 ↓1 3 too low 17 A ACF Post-2-Post 3K+ · 5.0★ (39) wp.org #17 18 Content Blocks (Custom Post Widget) 10K+ · 4.9★ (80) wp.org #24 ↓4 6 too low 19 MWW Scheduled Post Trigger 60K+ · 4.4★ (27) wp.org #15 ↑1 4 too high 20 KeepInMind Dashboard Notes 300+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #10 ↓1 10 too high 21 Archive Content with Archived Post Status 5K+ · 4.9★ (36) wp.org #21 22 JAMP Notes (Just Another Memo Plugin) 400+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #14 8 too high 23 JSM Show Post Metadata 10K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #22 ↓3 1 too high 24 Admin Page Notes 700+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #20 ↓5 4 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.