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

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 notification”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 4 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

Notification Master – Real-Time WordPress Notifications With Email, SMS, Webhooks & More shows at wp.org #10 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Duplicate Post places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 1623 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Post Types Order 600K+ · 4.5★ (296) wp.org #1 ↑1 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 Custom Post Type UI 1M+ · 4.6★ (276) wp.org #4 ↑2 1 too low 4 MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) wp.org #5 ↓2 1 too low 5 Noptin – Newsletter, New Post Notifications & Email Automation 10K+ · 4.5★ (120) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 WPFront Notification Bar 40K+ · 4.5★ (131) wp.org #6 ↑1 7 Schedule Post Changes With PublishPress Future: Unpublish, Delete, Change Status, Trash, Change Categories 100K+ · 4.5★ (172) wp.org #7 ↓2 8 Email Subscribers & Newsletters by Icegram Express – Email Marketing, Post Notifications & WooCommerce Marekting Automation for WordPress 50K+ · 4.6★ (1170) wp.org #8 ↓4 9 Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1525) wp.org #18 ↑6 9 too low 10 Manage Notification E-mails 100K+ · 4.8★ (56) wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too high 11 Notification – Custom Notifications and Alerts for WordPress 10K+ · 4.6★ (124) wp.org #12 ↓2 1 too low 12 Duplicate Post 300K+ · 4.9★ (1623) wp.org #22 ↓5 10 too low 13 Notification for Telegram 4K+ · 4.9★ (71) wp.org #14 ↓1 1 too low 14 Post Duplicator 200K+ · 4.8★ (80) wp.org #15 ↓4 1 too low 15 Ultimate Post Kit – Elementor Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider & Blog Layout Widgets 30K+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #16 ↓2 1 too low 16 OneSignal – Web Push Notifications 60K+ · 4.3★ (360) wp.org #24 8 too low 17 Notivo Notification for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.3★ (80) wp.org #17 ↓1 18 HashBar – Announcement, Notification Bar & Popup Campaign 9K+ · 4.2★ (38) wp.org #20 ↓2 2 too low 19 Push Notification for Post and BuddyPress 200+ · 4.7★ (24) wp.org #21 ↓2 2 too low 20 WP Notification Bell 700+ · 4.9★ (12) wp.org #19 ↑3 1 too high 21 Notification Master – Real-Time WordPress Notifications With Email, SMS, Webhooks & More 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #10 ↓1 11 too high 22 Publish Post Email Notification 600+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #11 ↑4 11 too high 23 Push Notifications for WP – Self Hosted Web Push Notifications 6K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #13 ↓1 10 too high 24 WP Comment Notification 400+ · 5.0★ (1) 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.