wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “posts 2 posts”

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 “posts 2 posts”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Weaver Show Posts shows at wp.org #14 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 5K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 7 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin signals wp.org

1 P Posts 2 Posts 9K+ · 4.8★ (101) wp.org #1 2

Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails 100K+ · 4.8★ (215) wp.org #3 4

List category posts 80K+ · 4.7★ (254) wp.org #6 ↓2 2 too low 5

Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588) wp.org #8 2 too low 7

User Submitted Posts – Enable Users to Submit Posts from the Front End 10K+ · 4.8★ (913) wp.org #10 3 too low 8

Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1526) wp.org #11 3 too low 9 A ACF Post-2-Post 3K+ · 5.0★ (39) wp.org #5 ↑1 4 too high 10

SchedulePress – Auto Post & Publish, Auto Social Share, Schedule Posts with Editorial Calendar & Missed Schedule Post Publisher 10K+ · 4.6★ (201) wp.org #9 1 too high 11

Category Posts Block 40K+ · 4.5★ (79) wp.org #7 4 too high 12

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #18 5 too low 14

Post Duplicator 200K+ · 4.8★ (80) wp.org #17 3 too low 15

The Post Grid – Shortcode, Gutenberg Blocks and Elementor Addon for Post Grid 100K+ · 4.8★ (265) wp.org #24 9 too low 16

Flex Posts – Responsive Posts Block 2K+ · 5.0★ (24) thin reviews wp.org #12 4 too high 17

Missed Scheduled Posts Publisher by WPBeginner 20K+ · 4.9★ (60) wp.org #19 2 too low 18

Custom Post Type Permalinks 200K+ · 4.8★ (71) wp.org #23 ↓1 5 too low 19

Dynamic Month & Year into Posts 8K+ · 5.0★ (18) thin reviews wp.org #16 3 too high 20

CCI Posts Carousel All In One 2K+ · 4.6★ (27) wp.org #21 1 too low 21

Weaver Show Posts 5K+ · 5.0★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #14 7 too high 22

Magical Posts Display – Elementor Advanced Posts widgets 3K+ · 4.4★ (10) thin reviews wp.org #15 7 too high 23

Republish Old Posts 2K+ · 4.3★ (12) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #20 3 too high 24

Duplicate Post – duplicate pages, copy content, clone posts 5K+ · 4.7★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #22 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.