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

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 relationships”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 3 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

Auto Post Cleaner shows at wp.org #11 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Admin Columns places #7 on merit, 4.9★ from 1652 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 signals wp.org

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

Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418) wp.org #4 1 too low 4

MB Relationships 1K+ · 4.6★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #1 3 too high 5

bbPress 100K+ · 3.9★ (343) wp.org #7 ↑1 2 too low 6

Bulk Edit Posts and Products in Spreadsheet 7K+ · 4.8★ (217) wp.org #10 4 too low 7

Admin Columns 100K+ · 4.9★ (1652) wp.org #18 ↑1 11 too low 8 A ACF Post-2-Post 3K+ · 5.0★ (39) wp.org #8 ↑1 9

WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #17 ↑1 8 too low 10

Reorder Posts – Quick Post Type and Page Ordering 10K+ · 3.9★ (28) wp.org #6 ↑1 4 too high 11

WP RSS Aggregator – RSS Import, Feed to Post, Autoblogging, AI Content 40K+ · 4.5★ (565) wp.org #19 ↓2 8 too low 12

WP-Sweep 100K+ · 4.7★ (138) wp.org #16 4 too low 13

Category Posts in Custom Menu 2K+ · 4.8★ (43) wp.org #12 1 too high 14

Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #23 ↑1 9 too low 15

Repeaters & Relationships Connector with ACF for Elementor 900+ · 5.0★ (7) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #5 ↑1 10 too high 16

Display Post Types – Post Grid, post list and post sliders 8K+ · 5.0★ (26) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #13 3 too high 17

MB Custom Post Types & Custom Taxonomies 10K+ · 4.7★ (13) thin reviews wp.org #14 3 too high 18 C Custom Post Type Widgets 10K+ · 4.8★ (14) thin reviews wp.org #15 3 too high 19

Duplicate Post – duplicate pages, copy content, clone posts 5K+ · 4.7★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #9 ↑11 10 too high 20

Post Export Import with Media 1K+ · 4.5★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #20 ↑1 21

Auto Post Cleaner 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #11 11 too high 23

Post Network 30+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #24 1 too low 24

Posts to PDF – Backend Batch Export 200+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #22 ↑1 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.