Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 navigation”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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 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

Admin Posts Navigation shows at wp.org #4 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 27821 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 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #1 2 Post Types Order 600K+ · 4.5★ (296) wp.org #2 3 Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails 100K+ · 4.8★ (215) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (587) wp.org #7 ↑4 3 too low 5 Menu Icons by Themeisle – Add Icons to Navigation Menus 100K+ · 4.9★ (851) wp.org #9 ↓1 4 too low 6 Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1525) wp.org #12 ↑1 6 too low 7 Delete Duplicate Posts 10K+ · 4.8★ (153) wp.org #10 3 too low 8 Ultimate Post Kit – Elementor Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider & Blog Layout Widgets 30K+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #8 ↓1 9 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #18 ↑2 9 too low 10 Hide Posts 20K+ · 4.7★ (22) wp.org #6 4 too high 11 SchedulePress – Auto Post & Publish, Auto Social Share, Schedule Posts with Editorial Calendar & Missed Schedule Post Publisher 10K+ · 4.6★ (201) wp.org #13 ↓1 2 too low 12 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #14 2 too low 13 Post Views Counter 100K+ · 4.9★ (1236) wp.org #21 8 too low 14 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #19 ↓1 5 too low 15 Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (742) wp.org #20 ↓1 5 too low 16 Table of Contents Plus – Automatic Table of Contents for Posts & Pages 200K+ · 4.5★ (187) wp.org #17 1 too low 17 Endless Posts Navigation 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #3 14 too high 18 Category AJAX Filter – Posts, Custom Post Types & Product Filter 6K+ · 4.9★ (158) wp.org #23 ↓1 5 too low 19 Smart Post – Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider Gutenberg Blocks for Blog & News 20K+ · 4.7★ (210) wp.org #22 ↓1 3 too low 20 Navigation menu as Dropdown Widget 2K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #11 ↓2 9 too high 21 Admin Posts Navigation 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #4 17 too high 22 Ocean Posts Slider 10K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #15 7 too high 23 Magical Posts Display – Elementor Advanced Posts widgets 3K+ · 4.4★ (10) wp.org #16 7 too high 24 Better Section Navigation 600+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #24 ↓1

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.