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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “activity logs”

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 “activity logs”, we agree with wp.org 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

Activity Logs, User Activity Tracking, Multisite Activity Log from Logtivity shows at wp.org #4 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Temporary Login Without Password places #11 on merit, 5.0★ from 1549 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 Activity Log – Monitor User and Agent Changes 200K+ · 4.3★ (74) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 WP Activity Log 300K+ · 4.7★ (490) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #3 4 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #5 ↑7 1 too low 5 Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes 300K+ · 4.9★ (491) wp.org #9 ↓3 4 too low 6 Stream – Activity Log & Audit Trail 70K+ · 4.3★ (76) wp.org #6 ↓1 7 Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #10 ↓3 3 too low 8 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #13 5 too low 9 Security Optimizer – The All-In-One Protection Plugin 1M+ · 4.5★ (157) wp.org #8 ↑1 1 too high 10 WP 2FA – Two-factor authentication for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (184) wp.org #12 ↓1 2 too low 11 Temporary Login Without Password 90K+ · 5.0★ (1549) wp.org #21 ↓1 10 too low 12 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #14 ↓1 2 too low 13 404 to 301 – Redirect Manager, 301 Redirection, 404 Error Logs & 404 Monitoring 100K+ · 4.7★ (321) wp.org #17 ↓1 4 too low 14 Activity Log Pro – User Activity Log, Audit Log & Security Monitor 400+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #7 ↑1 7 too high 15 Booking Activities 3K+ · 5.0★ (121) wp.org #15 ↓1 16 WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #23 ↓4 7 too low 17 Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012) wp.org #19 ↓2 2 too low 18 Password Protected 300K+ · 4.4★ (142) wp.org #18 19 Activity Logs, User Activity Tracking, Multisite Activity Log from Logtivity 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #4 15 too high 20 Masteriyo LMS – LMS Course Builder, Quizzes & Certificates 6K+ · 4.8★ (184) wp.org #20 ↑1 21 User Activity Tracking and Log 2K+ · 3.5★ (34) wp.org #11 ↓1 10 too high 22 Debug Log Manager Tool 3K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #22 23 Ambiscale Activity Manager 80+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Logify WP – Activity Log & User Audit Log 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 ↓1 8 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.