wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “promote 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 “promote posts”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

Advanced Related Posts shows at wp.org #7 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 300+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Quiz Maker by AYS places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 601 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

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

Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #2 3

MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) heavy footprint wp.org #5 2 too low 4

Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads 300K+ · 4.9★ (2433) wp.org #8 ↑2 4 too low 5

Blog2Social: Social Media Auto Post & Scheduler 40K+ · 4.5★ (2107) not PHP-current wp.org #6 1 too low 6

Depicter — Popup & Slider Builder 70K+ · 4.6★ (235) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #4 2 too high 7

Kadence Security – Password, Two Factor Authentication, and Brute Force Protection 700K+ · 4.6★ (3992) wp.org #11 ↑1 4 too low 8

Revive Social – Social Media Auto Post and Scheduling Automation Plugin 20K+ · 4.0★ (556) wp.org #10 ↓1 2 too low 9

PublishPress Planner – Editorial Calendar, Marketing Content, Kanban Board 6K+ · 4.9★ (178) wp.org #13 ↑3 4 too low 10

Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction 10K+ · 4.7★ (270) wp.org #15 5 too low 11

Republish Old Posts 2K+ · 4.3★ (12) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #3 8 too high 12

Quiz Maker by AYS 20K+ · 4.9★ (601) wp.org #22 10 too low 13

Nelio Content – Editorial Calendar & Social Media Auto-Posting 3K+ · 4.4★ (104) wp.org #16 ↑2 3 too low 14

Ultimate Post List 2K+ · 4.6★ (13) thin reviews wp.org #9 ↓1 5 too high 15

Mailchimp for WooCommerce 200K+ · 4.0★ (726) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #17 ↓3 2 too low 16

Otter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder for Gutenberg Editor & FSE 300K+ · 4.7★ (251) heavy footprint wp.org #24 ↓1 8 too low 17

Visual Link Preview 10K+ · 4.5★ (36) wp.org #18 ↑1 1 too low 18

Advanced Product Labels for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.8★ (252) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #23 ↓1 5 too low 19

Automatic Featured Images from Videos 6K+ · 4.6★ (36) wp.org #19 ↓2 20

Advanced Popups 60K+ · 4.0★ (9) thin reviews wp.org #21 ↓1 1 too high 23

Widgets for Social Post Feed 600+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #20 ↑1 3 too high 24 R Recently Updated Pages and Posts 100+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #14 ↓1 10 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.