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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “submit post”

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 “submit post”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

Auto Update Post Date shows at wp.org #12 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

SchedulePress – Auto Post & Publish, Auto Social Share, Schedule Posts with Editorial Calendar & Missed Schedule Post Publisher places #10 on merit, 4.6★ from 201 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 User Submitted Posts – Enable Users to Submit Posts from the Front End 10K+ · 4.8★ (913) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Yoast Duplicate Post 3M+ · 4.7★ (538) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (587) wp.org #3 4 The Post Grid – Shortcode, Gutenberg Blocks and Elementor Addon for Post Grid 100K+ · 4.8★ (265) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #8 ↓1 3 too low 6 Ultimate Post Kit – Elementor Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider & Blog Layout Widgets 30K+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 PublishPress Revisions: Duplicate Posts, Submit, Approve and Schedule Content Changes 10K+ · 4.6★ (66) wp.org #7 ↑1 8 Easy Post Submission – Frontend Posting, Guest Publishing & Submit Content for WordPress 4K+ · 4.5★ (6) wp.org #4 4 too high 9 Related Posts Thumbnails 20K+ · 4.9★ (234) wp.org #16 7 too low 10 SchedulePress – Auto Post & Publish, Auto Social Share, Schedule Posts with Editorial Calendar & Missed Schedule Post Publisher 10K+ · 4.6★ (201) wp.org #24 14 too low 11 Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) wp.org #19 ↓4 8 too low 12 C Custom Post Type Widgets 10K+ · 4.8★ (14) wp.org #10 2 too high 13 Category Posts Block 40K+ · 4.5★ (79) wp.org #20 ↓2 7 too low 14 Redirection 2M+ · 4.4★ (703) wp.org #23 ↓1 9 too low 15 Better Post & Filter Widgets for Elementor 4K+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #9 6 too high 16 Noptin – Newsletter, New Post Notifications & Email Automation 10K+ · 4.5★ (120) wp.org #21 ↑2 5 too low 17 Post My CF7 Form 2K+ · 4.8★ (48) wp.org #18 ↓1 1 too low 18 Page & Post Notes 1K+ · 4.4★ (14) wp.org #17 ↓1 1 too high 19 Frontend Post Submission Manager Lite – Guest Post and Frontend Submission Forms 1K+ · 4.5★ (22) wp.org #22 ↓2 3 too low 20 Zhanzhangb Indexing Submission for Baidu 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #11 9 too high 21 Advanced Post Manager 4K+ · 3.5★ (11) wp.org #13 ↑1 8 too high 22 Publish Post Email Notification 600+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #14 8 too high 23 Auto Update Post Date 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #12 11 too high 24 Download PDF After Submit Form 400+ · 3.2★ (6) wp.org #15 ↓2 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.