wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “post type posts widget”
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 type posts widget”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 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 #17 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 7 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.
Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails 100K+ · 4.8★ (215)
wp.org #1 2 
Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588)
wp.org #2 3 
Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418)
wp.org #4 1 too low 4 
Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528)
wp.org #5 1 too low 5 
Post Views Counter 100K+ · 4.9★ (1238)
wp.org #7 2 too low 6 
Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132)
wp.org #8 2 too low 7 
WP Popular Posts 100K+ · 4.5★ (249)
wp.org #6 1 too high 8 C Custom Post Type Widgets 10K+ · 4.8★ (14) thin reviews
wp.org #3 5 too high 9 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322)
wp.org #10 1 too low 10 
ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051)
wp.org #11 1 too low 11 
Ultimate Post Kit – Elementor Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider & Blog Layout Widgets 30K+ · 4.8★ (58)
wp.org #9 2 too high 12 
Contextual Related Posts 50K+ · 4.8★ (201)
wp.org #14 2 too low 13 
Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680)
wp.org #18 5 too low 14 
The Post Grid – Shortcode, Gutenberg Blocks and Elementor Addon for Post Grid 100K+ · 4.8★ (265)
wp.org #16 2 too low 15 
Rate My Post – Star Rating Plugin by FeedbackWP 20K+ · 4.7★ (159)
wp.org #15 16 
Post Duplicator 200K+ · 4.8★ (80)
wp.org #12 4 too high 17 P Posts 2 Posts 9K+ · 4.8★ (101)
wp.org #13 4 too high 18 
Smart Post – Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider Gutenberg Blocks for Blog & News 20K+ · 4.7★ (210)
wp.org #23 5 too low 19 
List category posts 70K+ · 4.7★ (254)
wp.org #24 5 too low 20 
Category AJAX Filter – Posts, Custom Post Types & Product Filter 6K+ · 4.9★ (158)
wp.org #21 1 too low 21 
Content Blocks (Custom Post Widget) 10K+ · 4.9★ (80)
wp.org #20 1 too high 22 
Display Post Types – Post Grid, post list and post sliders 8K+ · 5.0★ (26)
wp.org #19 3 too high 23 
Post Slider and Post Carousel with Post Vertical Scrolling Widget – A Responsive Post Slider 10K+ · 4.7★ (31)
wp.org #22 1 too high 24 Duplicate Post – duplicate pages, copy content, clone posts 5K+ · 4.7★ (7) thin reviews
wp.org #17 7 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.