wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “show 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 “show posts”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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 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

Weaver Show Sliders shows at wp.org #11 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 900+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.5★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Simple Custom Post Order places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 587 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

Duplicate Post 300K+ · 4.9★ (1623) wp.org #3 ↓1 2 too low 2

Weaver Show Posts 5K+ · 5.0★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #1 1 too high 3

JSM Show Post Metadata 10K+ · 5.0★ (12) thin reviews wp.org #2 ↑2 2 too high 5

Show Pages IDs 10K+ · 5.0★ (103) wp.org #5 6

Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails 100K+ · 4.8★ (215) wp.org #6 7

Post Types Order 600K+ · 4.5★ (296) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 P Posts 2 Posts 9K+ · 4.8★ (101) wp.org #9 10

List category posts 80K+ · 4.7★ (254) wp.org #13 ↑1 3 too low 11

Category Posts Block 40K+ · 4.5★ (79) wp.org #10 ↑1 1 too high 12

Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (587) wp.org #16 ↓4 4 too low 13

Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1525) wp.org #24 11 too low 14

Delete Duplicate Posts 10K+ · 4.8★ (153) wp.org #19 ↓1 5 too low 15

Hide Posts 20K+ · 4.7★ (22) thin reviews wp.org #12 ↑1 4 too high 17

Show modified Date in admin lists 6K+ · 4.9★ (32) wp.org #20 ↓1 3 too low 18

Flex Posts – Responsive Posts Block 2K+ · 5.0★ (24) thin reviews wp.org #23 ↓1 5 too low 19

Same Category Posts 3K+ · 4.7★ (13) thin reviews wp.org #18 ↓1 1 too high 20

Unlist Posts & Pages 10K+ · 4.7★ (15) thin reviews wp.org #22 ↓2 2 too low 21

Weaver Show Sliders 900+ · 4.5★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #11 ↓1 10 too high 22

Magical Posts Display – Elementor Advanced Posts widgets 3K+ · 4.4★ (10) thin reviews wp.org #21 1 too high 23

JSM Show User Metadata 3K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #14 ↑1 9 too high 24

Show IDs by Echo 2K+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #15 ↑1 9 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.