wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “post taxonomy”
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 taxonomy”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20.
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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.
Ranked above its merit
Duplicate Post – duplicate pages, copy content, clone posts shows at wp.org #12 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 5K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.7★ average from 7 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Post Types Order 600K+ · 4.5★ (296)
wp.org #1 2 
Custom Post Type UI 1M+ · 4.6★ (276)
wp.org #2 3 
Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588)
wp.org #4 1 too low 4 
Category Order and Taxonomy Terms Order 500K+ · 4.5★ (162)
wp.org #3 1 too high 5 
Post Views Counter 100K+ · 4.9★ (1238)
wp.org #8 3 too low 6 
Custom Taxonomy Order 50K+ · 4.8★ (96)
wp.org #5 1 too high 7 
Schedule Post Changes With PublishPress Future: Unpublish, Delete, Change Status, Trash, Change Categories 100K+ · 4.5★ (172)
wp.org #6 1 too high 8 
Related Posts by Taxonomy 10K+ · 4.8★ (77)
wp.org #7 1 too high 9 
Post Duplicator 200K+ · 4.8★ (80)
wp.org #9 10 
The Post Grid – Shortcode, Gutenberg Blocks and Elementor Addon for Post Grid 100K+ · 4.8★ (265)
wp.org #13 3 too low 11 
Smart Post – Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider Gutenberg Blocks for Blog & News 20K+ · 4.7★ (210)
wp.org #14 3 too low 12 
Post Type Switcher 200K+ · 4.8★ (255)
wp.org #15 3 too low 13 
Beautiful taxonomy filters 2K+ · 4.9★ (68)
wp.org #11 2 too high 14 
PublishPress Taxonomies – Tag, Category, and Taxonomy Manager – Autotagger Automatically Add Terms 40K+ · 4.6★ (195)
wp.org #17 3 too low 15 
Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440)
wp.org #19 4 too low 16 
Content Views – Post Grid & Filter (Shortcode, Blocks, Elementor Widgets) 100K+ · 4.8★ (333)
wp.org #23 7 too low 17 
Custom Post Type Permalinks 200K+ · 4.8★ (71)
wp.org #16 1 too high 18 
Post Grid 30K+ · 4.3★ (163)
wp.org #21 3 too low 19 
MB Custom Post Types & Custom Taxonomies 10K+ · 4.7★ (13) thin reviews
wp.org #10 9 too high 20 
Post Slider and Post Carousel with Post Vertical Scrolling Widget – A Responsive Post Slider 10K+ · 4.7★ (31)
wp.org #22 2 too low 21 
Better Post & Filter Widgets for Elementor 4K+ · 5.0★ (18) thin reviews
wp.org #20 1 too high 22 Duplicate Post – duplicate pages, copy content, clone posts 5K+ · 4.7★ (7) thin reviews
wp.org #12 10 too high 23 S Simple Taxonomy Refreshed 400+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #18 5 too high 24 
WP Taxonomy Manager 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #24 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.