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← Rankings

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

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 subtitle”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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

Dropndot Post Subtitle shows at wp.org #5 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 10+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 333 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 K KIA Subtitle 7K+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #1 2 SiteOrigin Widgets Bundle 400K+ · 4.9★ (134) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3 Email Templates Customizer and Designer for WordPress and WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.6★ (133) wp.org #4 ↑4 1 too low 4 WP Subtitle 10K+ · 4.1★ (21) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 All-in-One Video Gallery – Video Player & Galleries for YouTube, Vimeo & Self-Hosted Videos 20K+ · 4.8★ (136) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too low 6 Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (743) wp.org #10 ↓1 4 too low 7 HTML5 Video Player – embed fast, responsive videos with ease 20K+ · 4.6★ (195) wp.org #12 ↑5 5 too low 8 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #18 ↑4 10 too low 9 Open User Map – Interactive Leaflet Maps 10K+ · 5.0★ (70) wp.org #19 10 too low 10 CP Media Player – Audio Player and Video Player 3K+ · 4.4★ (46) wp.org #14 ↓3 4 too low 11 EventON – Events Calendar 6K+ · 4.1★ (44) wp.org #7 4 too high 12 MaxSlider 6K+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #8 ↓2 4 too high 13 Falang multilanguage for WordPress 1K+ · 5.0★ (113) wp.org #24 ↓4 11 too low 14 Seriously Simple Podcasting 20K+ · 4.7★ (330) wp.org #21 ↓7 7 too low 15 Sina Extension for Elementor 40K+ · 4.9★ (35) wp.org #16 ↓1 1 too low 16 Podlove Web Player 4K+ · 3.7★ (14) wp.org #11 ↓1 5 too high 17 Super Video player – Fully Customizable Video Player with Playlist 2K+ · 4.2★ (30) wp.org #20 ↓1 3 too low 18 Video Player Block – play videos beautifully on any device 2K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #23 5 too low 19 Dropndot Post Subtitle 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 ↓2 14 too high 20 GS Posts Grid – Recent Posts, Category Posts, Post Filter, Slider & List 100+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #13 ↓1 7 too high 21 Image Gallery Block – Showcase Photos in Stunning Responsive Grids 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 ↓2 6 too high 22 Podigee for WordPress: Podcast Episodes to Blog Posts 600+ · 3.5★ (2) wp.org #9 13 too high 23 Simple Subtitle 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓1 6 too high 24 Advanced Heading 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 ↓4 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.