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

Recently Updated Pages and Posts shows at wp.org #5 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 19 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 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 #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 27821 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Post Types Order 600K+ · 4.5★ (296) wp.org #1 2

Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails 100K+ · 4.8★ (215) wp.org #3 4 P Posts 2 Posts 9K+ · 4.8★ (101) wp.org #4 5

Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (587) wp.org #7 ↑4 2 too low 6

Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7520) wp.org #9 ↓2 3 too low 7

Category Posts Block 40K+ · 4.5★ (79) wp.org #8 9

User Submitted Posts – Enable Users to Submit Posts from the Front End 10K+ · 4.8★ (913) wp.org #17 8 too low 10

Delete Duplicate Posts 10K+ · 4.8★ (153) wp.org #12 2 too low 11

Custom Post Type UI 1M+ · 4.6★ (276) wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too high 12

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #23 11 too low 13

Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #15 1 too low 15

WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #18 2 too low 17

Hide Posts 20K+ · 4.7★ (22) thin reviews wp.org #14 3 too high 18

Unlist Posts & Pages 10K+ · 4.7★ (15) thin reviews wp.org #13 5 too high 19

Flex Posts – Responsive Posts Block 2K+ · 5.0★ (24) thin reviews wp.org #20 1 too low 20

Dynamic Month & Year into Posts 8K+ · 5.0★ (18) thin reviews wp.org #19 1 too high 21

Ocean Posts Slider 10K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #16 5 too high 22

Reorder Posts – Quick Post Type and Page Ordering 10K+ · 3.9★ (28) wp.org #24 ↓1 2 too low 23

Magical Posts Display – Elementor Advanced Posts widgets 3K+ · 4.4★ (10) thin reviews wp.org #22 1 too high 24 R Recently Updated Pages and Posts 100+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #5 19 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.