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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “access restrict”

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 “access restrict”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 4 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

Restrict Website Access shows at wp.org #3 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 13 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

Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin places #8 on merit, 4.9★ from 1281 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP Data Access – App Builder for Tables, Forms, Dashboards, Charts & Maps 10K+ · 4.9★ (88) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Restrict User Access – Ultimate Membership & Content Protection 10K+ · 4.3★ (94) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Restricted Site Access 10K+ · 4.8★ (62) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Remove Dashboard Access 30K+ · 4.6★ (78) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 User Access Manager 10K+ · 4.4★ (112) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Access Governance for WordPress (aka AAM) 100K+ · 4.2★ (420) wp.org #8 ↓1 2 too low 7 Prevent Direct Access – Protect WordPress Files 10K+ · 4.6★ (297) wp.org #10 3 too low 8 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #21 ↑2 13 too low 9 PublishPress Capabilities: User Role Access Control, Admin Area Permissions 90K+ · 4.7★ (143) wp.org #14 5 too low 10 Controlled Admin Access 10K+ · 4.8★ (45) wp.org #11 1 too low 11 Groups – Memberships and Access Control 10K+ · 4.8★ (382) wp.org #20 9 too low 12 Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869) wp.org #24 12 too low 13 Restrict – membership, site, content and user access restrictions for WordPress 2K+ · 4.2★ (25) wp.org #7 6 too high 14 Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction 10K+ · 4.7★ (270) wp.org #23 ↓1 9 too low 15 Simple Page Access Restriction 6K+ · 4.9★ (32) wp.org #12 3 too high 16 Restrict Website Access 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #3 13 too high 17 Security Optimizer – The All-In-One Protection Plugin 1M+ · 4.5★ (157) wp.org #17 ↑1 18 PublishPress Permissions: Access Control, Content Permissions, User Access 10K+ · 4.3★ (66) wp.org #18 ↓1 19 Prevent Files / Folders Access 1K+ · 4.6★ (35) wp.org #19 20 Restrict for Elementor 900+ · 4.0★ (9) wp.org #9 ↑1 11 too high 21 Simple Restrict 1K+ · 4.9★ (15) wp.org #13 8 too high 22 Membership Plugin – Kadence Memberships 8K+ · 3.1★ (100) wp.org #15 ↓1 7 too high 23 Page Restrict for WooCommerce 700+ · 4.7★ (23) wp.org #16 ↑1 7 too high 24 Country Access Blocker 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #22 ↓1 2 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.