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

Yoast Duplicate Post shows at wp.org #10 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 3M+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.7★ average from 538 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager places #12 on merit, 5.0★ from 1526 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Duplicate Post 300K+ · 4.9★ (1623) wp.org #1 2 P Posts 2 Posts 9K+ · 4.8★ (101) wp.org #2 ↑1 3

Post Types Order 600K+ · 4.5★ (296) wp.org #4 5

Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails 100K+ · 4.8★ (215) wp.org #5 ↑1 6

List category posts 80K+ · 4.7★ (254) wp.org #7 ↑1 8

Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588) wp.org #12 ↓5 4 too low 9

Custom Post Type UI 1M+ · 4.6★ (276) wp.org #9 ↑5 1 too high 11

User Submitted Posts – Enable Users to Submit Posts from the Front End 10K+ · 4.8★ (913) wp.org #18 ↓6 7 too low 12

Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1526) wp.org #22 10 too low 13

Delete Duplicate Posts 10K+ · 4.8★ (153) wp.org #14 ↓1 1 too low 14

Category Posts Block 40K+ · 4.5★ (79) wp.org #11 ↓1 3 too high 15

SchedulePress – Auto Post & Publish, Auto Social Share, Schedule Posts with Editorial Calendar & Missed Schedule Post Publisher 10K+ · 4.6★ (201) wp.org #15 16

Yoast Duplicate Post 3M+ · 4.7★ (538) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #10 ↑1 6 too high 17

Hide Posts 20K+ · 4.7★ (22) thin reviews wp.org #17 3 too high 21

Flex Posts – Responsive Posts Block 2K+ · 5.0★ (24) thin reviews wp.org #19 ↑2 2 too high 22

Unlist Posts & Pages 10K+ · 4.7★ (15) thin reviews wp.org #16 6 too high 23

Ocean Posts Slider 10K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #20 ↑2 3 too high 24

Magical Posts Display – Elementor Advanced Posts widgets 3K+ · 4.4★ (10) thin reviews wp.org #23 1 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.