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

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 paging”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

Spotler Mail+ Forms shows at wp.org #11 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 300+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WPeMatico RSS Feed Fetcher places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 514 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Custom Post Type Permalinks 200K+ · 4.8★ (71) wp.org #1 2 WP-PageNavi 400K+ · 4.7★ (149) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too low 3 Peter's Post Notes – Admin Notes for Posts and Pages 3K+ · 4.9★ (26) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too high 4 Ajax Load More – Infinite Scroll, Load More, & Lazy Load 30K+ · 4.8★ (287) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Intuitive Custom Post Order 400K+ · 4.4★ (139) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Embed Plus for YouTube Gallery, Livestream and Lazy Loading with Facades 100K+ · 4.6★ (572) wp.org #14 ↑2 8 too low 7 Element Pack Addons for Elementor – MCP & AI-Ready Elementor Widgets, Elementor Templates, Elementor Addons 100K+ · 4.7★ (284) wp.org #13 6 too low 8 Reorder Posts – Quick Post Type and Page Ordering 10K+ · 3.9★ (28) wp.org #6 2 too high 9 WP-DownloadManager 3K+ · 4.0★ (37) wp.org #9 10 WPeMatico RSS Feed Fetcher 10K+ · 4.8★ (514) wp.org #23 13 too low 11 Smart Grid-Layout Design for Contact Form 7 10K+ · 4.5★ (72) wp.org #12 1 too low 12 FV Top Level Categories 20K+ · 4.4★ (23) wp.org #16 ↓2 4 too low 13 WPSyncSheets For WooCommerce – Import & Export Orders, Products, Customers & Coupons to Google Sheets in Real-Time 700+ · 5.0★ (27) wp.org #24 11 too low 14 Featured Image Pro Post Grid 900+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #8 6 too high 15 WPBulky – WordPress Bulk Edit Post Types 400+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #7 8 too high 16 Weaver Show Sliders 900+ · 4.5★ (6) wp.org #18 ↓1 2 too low 17 WP-CommentNavi 700+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 7 too high 18 Back and Forward Button 200+ · 3.8★ (4) wp.org #17 ↑1 1 too high 19 Data Tables – present your data in clean, customizable tables 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 4 too high 20 Document Engine – Document Library, PDF Viewer & Post to PDF 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 WP-Stats 2K+ · 2.6★ (7) wp.org #19 2 too high 22 Blogroll & Podroll Block 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 2 too high 23 Simplistic page navi 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 Spotler Mail+ Forms 300+ · 3.0★ (1) wp.org #11 13 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.