wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “remove 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 “remove posts”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20.

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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Comment Link Remove and Other Comment Tools shows at wp.org #8 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 8K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.1★ average from 15 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 #9 on merit, 5.0★ from 1526 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Bulk remove posts from category 10K+ · 4.6★ (100) wp.org #1 2

Duplicate Post 300K+ · 4.9★ (1623) wp.org #2 3

Post Types Order 600K+ · 4.5★ (296) wp.org #3 4

Remove Category URL – Remove ‘category’ base from category permalinks 40K+ · 4.3★ (61) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 P Posts 2 Posts 9K+ · 4.8★ (101) wp.org #7 1 too low 7

Smart Archive Page Remove 6K+ · 4.9★ (59) wp.org #6 1 too high 8

List category posts 70K+ · 4.7★ (254) wp.org #11 3 too low 9

Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1526) wp.org #16 7 too low 10

Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588) wp.org #13 3 too low 11

Custom Post Type UI 1M+ · 4.6★ (276) wp.org #9 2 too high 12

User Submitted Posts – Enable Users to Submit Posts from the Front End 10K+ · 4.8★ (913) wp.org #20 7 too low 14

Delete Duplicate Posts 10K+ · 4.8★ (153) wp.org #14 15

Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7520) wp.org #21 5 too low 17

Category Posts Block 40K+ · 4.5★ (79) wp.org #12 5 too high 18

Post Duplicator 200K+ · 4.8★ (80) wp.org #19 20

Comment Link Remove and Other Comment Tools 8K+ · 4.1★ (15) thin reviews wp.org #8 12 too high 21

Remove CPT base 10K+ · 5.0★ (33) wp.org #18 3 too high 22

Hide Posts 20K+ · 4.7★ (22) thin reviews wp.org #17 5 too high 23

Mark Posts 1K+ · 4.8★ (10) thin reviews wp.org #24 1 too low 24

Remove Taxonomy URL 1K+ · 4.2★ (6) 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.