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← Rankings

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

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 status”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

PublishPress Statuses – Custom Post Status and Workflow shows at wp.org #12 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 9 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

Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security places #10 on merit, 4.7★ from 5039 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Archive Content with Archived Post Status 5K+ · 4.9★ (36) wp.org #1 ↑3 2 Schedule Post Changes With PublishPress Future: Unpublish, Delete, Change Status, Trash, Change Categories 100K+ · 4.5★ (172) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #4 ↓2 1 too low 4 Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too low 5 Post Views Counter 100K+ · 4.9★ (1237) wp.org #8 ↑6 3 too low 6 Custom Post Type UI 1M+ · 4.6★ (276) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too high 7 Extended Post Status 1K+ · 4.5★ (11) wp.org #3 4 too high 8 Post Duplicator 200K+ · 4.8★ (80) wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too low 9 Ultimate Post Kit – Elementor Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider & Blog Layout Widgets 30K+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #16 ↓3 6 too low 11 Smart Post – Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider Gutenberg Blocks for Blog & News 20K+ · 4.7★ (210) wp.org #15 ↓3 4 too low 12 bbPress 100K+ · 3.9★ (343) wp.org #17 ↓2 5 too low 13 Auto Featured Image (Auto Post Thumbnail) 40K+ · 3.8★ (119) wp.org #11 ↓2 2 too high 14 Post Grid 30K+ · 4.3★ (163) wp.org #19 ↓3 5 too low 15 Post Status Notifier Lite 700+ · 3.9★ (17) wp.org #7 8 too high 16 W4 Post List 3K+ · 4.7★ (94) wp.org #23 ↓1 7 too low 17 Duplicate Page and Post 70K+ · 4.6★ (29) wp.org #13 ↓2 4 too high 18 Duplicate Post – duplicate pages, copy content, clone posts 5K+ · 4.7★ (7) wp.org #14 4 too high 19 Better Post & Filter Widgets for Elementor 4K+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #24 5 too low 20 Advanced Post Block – Display Your Posts Exactly How You Want 10K+ · 4.2★ (17) wp.org #21 ↓2 1 too low 21 PublishPress Statuses – Custom Post Status and Workflow 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #12 ↓2 9 too high 22 Pending Status 200+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #18 4 too high 23 WP-Cron Status Checker 5K+ · 3.5★ (8) wp.org #20 ↓3 3 too high 24 Colored Admin Post List 500+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #22 ↓1 2 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.