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

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 page”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

WP Post Page Clone shows at wp.org #8 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 70K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.5★ average from 8 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Simple Custom Post Order places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 587 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #1 2

Duplicate Page 3M+ · 4.8★ (466) wp.org #2 3

Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #4 1 too low 4

Table of Contents Plus – Automatic Table of Contents for Posts & Pages 200K+ · 4.5★ (187) wp.org #3 1 too high 5

Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1525) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too low 6

Duplicate Post 300K+ · 4.9★ (1623) wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too low 7

Post Types Order 600K+ · 4.5★ (296) wp.org #11 3 too low 9

Unlist Posts & Pages 10K+ · 4.7★ (15) thin reviews wp.org #5 4 too high 10

Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (587) wp.org #16 ↓1 6 too low 11

Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) heavy footprint wp.org #12 ↑7 1 too low 12 P Posts 2 Posts 9K+ · 4.8★ (101) wp.org #14 2 too low 13 P Page-list 30K+ · 4.7★ (89) wp.org #15 ↓2 2 too low 14

List category posts 80K+ · 4.7★ (254) wp.org #22 7 too low 16

WP Sitemap Page 200K+ · 4.8★ (205) wp.org #23 ↑1 7 too low 17

Yoast Duplicate Post 3M+ · 4.7★ (538) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #13 ↓1 4 too high 18

Page scroll to id 100K+ · 4.9★ (225) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #18 ↓1 19

WP Post Page Clone 70K+ · 4.5★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #8 ↑1 11 too high 20

Duplicate Page and Post 70K+ · 4.6★ (29) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #10 10 too high 21

Hide Page And Post Title 40K+ · 3.6★ (54) wp.org #19 ↓1 2 too high 22

Page Visits Counter – Lite 5K+ · 4.0★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #17 ↓1 5 too high 23

Export Single Post Page 3K+ · 4.7★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #21 ↓1 2 too high 24

Quick Copy – Duplicate Posts & Pages 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) 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.