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← Rankings

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

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 slug”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 2 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

Export Single Post Page shows at wp.org #12 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.7★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Polylang places #9 on merit, 4.7★ from 3003 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Custom Post Type UI 1M+ · 4.6★ (276) 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 #2 ↓1 3 Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (587) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 Smart User Slug Hider 2K+ · 4.9★ (55) wp.org #4 5 Post Duplicator 200K+ · 4.8★ (80) wp.org #5 ↓1 6 Duplicate Post 300K+ · 4.9★ (1623) wp.org #10 ↓3 4 too low 7 Admin Slug Column 5K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too high 8 Custom Post Type Permalinks 200K+ · 4.8★ (71) wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too low 9 Polylang 900K+ · 4.7★ (3003) wp.org #17 8 too low 10 Ailo – AI Slug Translator 1K+ · 4.9★ (12) wp.org #7 ↓1 3 too high 11 Post Slider and Post Carousel with Post Vertical Scrolling Widget – A Responsive Post Slider 10K+ · 4.7★ (31) wp.org #11 ↓2 12 W4 Post List 3K+ · 4.7★ (94) wp.org #18 ↓2 6 too low 13 Edit Author Slug 100K+ · 4.8★ (84) wp.org #20 ↓5 7 too low 14 Duplicate Post – duplicate pages, copy content, clone posts 5K+ · 4.7★ (7) wp.org #8 6 too high 15 Display Post Types – Post Grid, post list and post sliders 8K+ · 5.0★ (26) wp.org #15 ↓3 16 Duplicate Page and Post 70K+ · 4.6★ (29) wp.org #13 ↓3 3 too high 17 Widget Context 30K+ · 4.5★ (98) wp.org #23 ↓2 6 too low 18 Pinyin Slugs 3K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #14 ↓3 4 too high 19 MB Custom Post Types & Custom Taxonomies 10K+ · 4.7★ (13) wp.org #21 ↓3 2 too low 20 Advanced Post Block – Display Your Posts Exactly How You Want 10K+ · 4.2★ (17) wp.org #16 ↓3 4 too high 21 Export Single Post Page 3K+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #12 9 too high 22 Slug Automator 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 3 too high 23 R Remove Taxonomy Slug 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 ↓2 1 too high 24 Slug Search and Admin Columns 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24 ↓2

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.