Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 source”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 4 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

Add as Preferred Source on Google shows at wp.org #8 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 900+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP Popular Posts places #12 on merit, 4.5★ from 249 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 Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588) wp.org #1 2 Post Views Counter 100K+ · 4.9★ (1237) wp.org #2 ↑4 3 Schedule Post Changes With PublishPress Future: Unpublish, Delete, Change Status, Trash, Change Categories 100K+ · 4.5★ (172) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 Disabled Source, Disabled Right Click and Content Protection 10K+ · 4.9★ (103) wp.org #4 ↑8 5 Post Duplicator 200K+ · 4.8★ (80) wp.org #5 ↓2 6 Ultimate Post Kit – Elementor Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider & Blog Layout Widgets 30K+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #6 ↓2 7 The Post Grid – Shortcode, Gutenberg Blocks and Elementor Addon for Post Grid 100K+ · 4.8★ (265) wp.org #9 ↓2 2 too low 8 Seraphinite Post .DOCX Source 800+ · 4.6★ (45) wp.org #7 ↓2 1 too high 9 Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012) wp.org #12 ↓1 3 too low 10 Contact Form 7 10M+ · 4.0★ (2186) wp.org #13 ↓3 3 too low 11 Post Grid 30K+ · 4.3★ (163) wp.org #14 ↓1 3 too low 12 WP Popular Posts 100K+ · 4.5★ (249) wp.org #17 ↓1 5 too low 13 Image Source Control Lite – Show Image Credits and Captions 3K+ · 4.6★ (42) wp.org #11 ↓2 2 too high 14 AnWP Post Grid and Post Carousel Slider for Elementor 20K+ · 4.9★ (84) wp.org #18 ↓1 4 too low 15 Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails 100K+ · 4.8★ (215) wp.org #23 ↑1 8 too low 16 Revive Social – Social Media Auto Post and Scheduling Automation Plugin 20K+ · 4.0★ (556) wp.org #22 ↓1 6 too low 17 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #21 ↓1 4 too low 18 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #16 ↓2 2 too high 19 Add as Preferred Source on Google 900+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #8 11 too high 20 Duplicate Post – duplicate pages, copy content, clone posts 5K+ · 4.7★ (7) wp.org #10 10 too high 21 Advanced Post Block – Display Your Posts Exactly How You Want 10K+ · 4.2★ (17) wp.org #15 6 too high 22 Better Post & Filter Widgets for Elementor 4K+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #19 ↓1 3 too high 23 Data Source for Contact Form 7 300+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #20 ↓1 3 too high 24 Auto Update Post Date 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) 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.