wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “posts per 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 per page”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

Number of Products per Page – Pagination Manager for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #9 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 8 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #1 ↑1 2

Duplicate Page 3M+ · 4.8★ (466) wp.org #2 ↓1 3

Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1525) wp.org #4 ↑4 1 too low 4

Products Per Page for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.8★ (80) wp.org #3 ↓2 1 too high 5

Post Types Order 600K+ · 4.5★ (296) wp.org #6 ↓1 7

Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) heavy footprint wp.org #7 ↑10 8

Table of Contents Plus – Automatic Table of Contents for Posts & Pages 200K+ · 4.5★ (187) wp.org #8 ↑5 9

List category posts 80K+ · 4.7★ (254) wp.org #14 ↑2 3 too low 12

Simple Page Ordering 100K+ · 4.7★ (131) wp.org #13 ↑1 1 too low 13

PPWP – Password Protect Pages 30K+ · 4.7★ (271) wp.org #17 ↑3 4 too low 14

Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (587) wp.org #19 ↓8 5 too low 15

WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #20 ↓4 5 too low 16

Post and Page Builder by BoldGrid – Visual Drag and Drop Editor 50K+ · 4.7★ (140) wp.org #18 ↑3 2 too low 17

Custom Post Type UI 1M+ · 4.6★ (276) wp.org #15 ↑8 2 too high 18

Delete Duplicate Posts 10K+ · 4.8★ (153) wp.org #23 5 too low 19

SchedulePress – Auto Post & Publish, Auto Social Share, Schedule Posts with Editorial Calendar & Missed Schedule Post Publisher 10K+ · 4.6★ (201) wp.org #24 5 too low 20

Number of Products per Page – Pagination Manager for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #9 ↓3 11 too high 21

Hide Posts 20K+ · 4.7★ (22) thin reviews wp.org #22 ↑1 1 too low 22

Page Visits Counter – Lite 5K+ · 4.0★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #11 ↓2 11 too high 23

Custom Posts Per Page Reloaded 600+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #21 2 too high 24 P Page Optimize 200K+ · 3.0★ (5) host-installed base thin reviews wp.org #16 ↑2 8 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.