wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “update 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 “update posts”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 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

Content Update Scheduler shows at wp.org #9 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 12 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 27820 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 signals wp.org

Schedule Post Changes With PublishPress Future: Unpublish, Delete, Change Status, Trash, Change Categories 100K+ · 4.5★ (172) wp.org #2 1 too low 2

Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5040) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too low 4

Post Types Order 600K+ · 4.5★ (296) wp.org #6 ↓2 2 too low 5

Go Live Update Urls 90K+ · 4.5★ (59) wp.org #5 ↑1 6 P Posts 2 Posts 9K+ · 4.8★ (101) wp.org #7 1 too low 7

Companion Auto Update 40K+ · 4.8★ (105) wp.org #8 1 too low 8

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27820) wp.org #15 ↑5 7 too low 9

List category posts 70K+ · 4.7★ (254) wp.org #11 2 too low 10

Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1526) wp.org #17 7 too low 11

Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588) wp.org #13 ↓4 2 too low 12

Auto Update Post Date 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #1 ↑2 11 too high 13

Yoast Duplicate Post 3M+ · 4.7★ (538) wp.org #12 1 too high 14

SchedulePress – Auto Post & Publish, Auto Social Share, Schedule Posts with Editorial Calendar & Missed Schedule Post Publisher 10K+ · 4.6★ (201) wp.org #14 ↓1 15

User Submitted Posts – Enable Users to Submit Posts from the Front End 10K+ · 4.8★ (913) wp.org #22 ↑1 5 too low 18

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #20 ↓2 2 too low 19

Delete Duplicate Posts 10K+ · 4.8★ (153) wp.org #18 ↓3 1 too high 20

Content Update Scheduler 2K+ · 4.3★ (12) thin reviews wp.org #9 ↑5 12 too high 22

Hide Posts 20K+ · 4.7★ (22) thin reviews wp.org #21 ↓4 1 too high 23

Unlist Posts & Pages 10K+ · 4.7★ (15) thin reviews wp.org #19 ↓3 4 too high 24

Dynamic Month & Year into Posts 8K+ · 5.0★ (18) thin reviews wp.org #24

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.