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

Missed Schedule Post Publisher shows at wp.org #4 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 6K+ 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

WooCommerce places #9 on merit, 4.5★ from 4833 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

Simply Schedule Appointments 50K+ · 5.0★ (155) wp.org #1 2

SchedulePress – Auto Post & Publish, Auto Social Share, Schedule Posts with Editorial Calendar & Missed Schedule Post Publisher 10K+ · 4.6★ (201) wp.org #2 3

Schedule Post Changes With PublishPress Future: Unpublish, Delete, Change Status, Trash, Change Categories 100K+ · 4.5★ (172) wp.org #3 4

The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #5 1 too low 5

UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8709) wp.org #7 2 too low 6

TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625) wp.org #9 ↑1 3 too low 7

Missed Scheduled Posts Publisher by WPBeginner 20K+ · 4.9★ (60) wp.org #6 1 too high 8

Delete Duplicate Posts 10K+ · 4.8★ (153) wp.org #8 9

WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #14 5 too low 10

PublishPress Revisions: Duplicate Posts, Submit, Approve and Schedule Content Changes 10K+ · 4.6★ (66) wp.org #10 ↑1 11

Social Media Auto Poster – Schedule & Publish to Buffer 7K+ · 4.5★ (125) wp.org #11 ↓2 1 too high 13

Blog2Social: Social Media Auto Post & Scheduler 40K+ · 4.5★ (2107) wp.org #22 ↓3 9 too low 14

LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #20 ↑1 6 too low 15

Noptin – Newsletter, New Post Notifications & Email Automation 10K+ · 4.5★ (120) wp.org #19 4 too low 16

Post Duplicator 200K+ · 4.8★ (80) wp.org #18 2 too low 17

Missed Schedule Post Publisher 6K+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #4 13 too high 18

MWW Scheduled Post Trigger 60K+ · 4.4★ (27) wp.org #16 2 too high 19

Auto Featured Image (Auto Post Thumbnail) 40K+ · 3.8★ (119) wp.org #23 ↓1 4 too low 20

Publish to Schedule 3K+ · 4.3★ (23) thin reviews wp.org #13 ↓1 7 too high 21

Republish Old Posts 2K+ · 4.3★ (12) thin reviews wp.org #21 ↓1 22

Duplicate Post – duplicate pages, copy content, clone posts 5K+ · 4.7★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #24 2 too low 23

Auto Post Cleaner 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #17 6 too high 24

Snack Missed Schedule 200+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #12 ↑1 12 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.