wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “related 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 “related posts”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

Advanced Related Posts shows at wp.org #9 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 11 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

Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings places #6 on merit, 4.8★ from 7520 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7520) wp.org #14 ↓2 8 too low 7 P Posts 2 Posts 9K+ · 4.8★ (101) wp.org #10 3 too low 8

Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #11 ↑2 2 too low 10

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #13 ↑2 2 too low 12

Delete Duplicate Posts 10K+ · 4.8★ (153) wp.org #20 7 too low 14

SchedulePress – Auto Post & Publish, Auto Social Share, Schedule Posts with Editorial Calendar & Missed Schedule Post Publisher 10K+ · 4.6★ (201) wp.org #22 ↑2 8 too low 15

WebberZone Top 10 — Popular Posts 10K+ · 4.6★ (102) wp.org #24 9 too low 16

Dynamic Month & Year into Posts 8K+ · 5.0★ (18) thin reviews wp.org #17 ↓1 18

Hide Posts 20K+ · 4.7★ (22) thin reviews wp.org #23 5 too low 19

Same Category Posts 3K+ · 4.7★ (13) thin reviews wp.org #19 ↓1 20

Internal Linking of Related Contents 3K+ · 4.2★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #12 ↓1 9 too high 22

Post Grid & Post Slider – Carousel, Filter Tabs & Related Posts 1K+ · 4.3★ (8) not PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #18 ↓1 5 too high 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.