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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “secret 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 “secret posts”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Endless Posts Navigation shows at wp.org #7 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 100+ 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

WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More places #7 on merit, 4.8★ from 14387 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 SchedulePress – Auto Post & Publish, Auto Social Share, Schedule Posts with Editorial Calendar & Missed Schedule Post Publisher 10K+ · 4.6★ (201) wp.org #1 2 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #4 ↓2 1 too low 4 Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) wp.org #6 ↓2 2 too low 5 Rate My Post – Star Rating Plugin by FeedbackWP 20K+ · 4.7★ (159) wp.org #5 6 Magical Posts Display – Elementor Advanced Posts widgets 3K+ · 4.4★ (10) wp.org #2 ↓1 4 too high 7 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #15 ↓2 8 too low 8 hCaptcha for WP 70K+ · 4.6★ (88) wp.org #8 ↓2 9 Activity Log – Monitor User and Agent Changes 200K+ · 4.3★ (74) wp.org #9 10 WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (199) wp.org #16 ↓4 6 too low 11 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #19 8 too low 12 Social Media Auto Poster – Schedule & Publish to Buffer 7K+ · 4.5★ (125) wp.org #18 ↓7 6 too low 13 Social Preview and Open Graph Tags 50K+ · 4.6★ (122) wp.org #23 ↓5 10 too low 14 Invisible reCaptcha 70K+ · 4.3★ (133) wp.org #21 ↓2 7 too low 15 WP Post Author – Author Box, Multiple Authors, Guest Authors & Custom Avatars 10K+ · 4.2★ (22) wp.org #12 ↓2 3 too high 16 Enable Abilities for MCP 5K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #14 ↓5 2 too high 17 WP Review Slider 6K+ · 4.8★ (181) wp.org #20 ↓4 3 too low 18 FormsDB – Save Elementor Forms to Google Sheets & Post Type 20K+ · 4.6★ (19) wp.org #11 ↓3 7 too high 19 Payment Button for PayPal 4K+ · 4.5★ (40) wp.org #22 ↓8 3 too low 20 Atlant Security 700+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #13 ↑4 7 too high 21 Endless Posts Navigation 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #7 14 too high 22 eRecht24 Legal Texts 50K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 ↓3 12 too high 23 Private Post Share 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↓2 6 too high 24 Unlisted Posts 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓2

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.