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

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 read button”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 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

Read More WP shows at wp.org #10 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 12 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

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI places #7 on merit, 4.8★ from 27821 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #1 2 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (587) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 Call Now Button – The Free Click to Call Button for WordPress 200K+ · 4.8★ (102) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Read More Without Refresh 20K+ · 4.2★ (55) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Post Duplicator 200K+ · 4.8★ (80) wp.org #6 7 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #14 7 too low 8 Smart Post – Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider Gutenberg Blocks for Blog & News 20K+ · 4.7★ (210) wp.org #9 ↓2 1 too low 9 Rate My Post – Star Rating Plugin by FeedbackWP 20K+ · 4.7★ (159) wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too high 10 AddToAny Share Buttons 300K+ · 4.7★ (1114) wp.org #12 ↓2 2 too low 11 Buttonizer – Floating Menus, Sticky Buttons, & Popup Builder 70K+ · 4.5★ (151) wp.org #11 ↓2 12 Post Slider and Post Carousel with Post Vertical Scrolling Widget – A Responsive Post Slider 10K+ · 4.7★ (31) wp.org #15 ↓3 3 too low 13 AnWP Post Grid and Post Carousel Slider for Elementor 20K+ · 4.9★ (84) wp.org #23 ↓5 10 too low 14 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #24 10 too low 15 Buttonizer – Live Chat, AI Chatbot, Call, Chat, Contact Button 50K+ · 5.0★ (23) wp.org #13 ↓2 2 too high 16 Duplicate Post – duplicate pages, copy content, clone posts 5K+ · 4.7★ (7) wp.org #8 8 too high 17 Better Post & Filter Widgets for Elementor 4K+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #17 ↓3 18 Advanced Post Block – Display Your Posts Exactly How You Want 10K+ · 4.2★ (17) wp.org #18 ↓3 19 Solid Post Likes 500+ · 4.8★ (9) wp.org #22 ↓1 3 too low 20 WebToffee EU Order Withdrawal Button for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #16 ↓3 4 too high 21 Read More Excerpt Link 3K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #19 ↓2 2 too high 22 Read More WP 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 ↓2 12 too high 23 Razorpay Payment Button Plugin 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 ↓1 2 too high 24 Read More Button – Expand Content Without Refresh 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↓1 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.