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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “admin only”

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 “admin only”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 4 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.

L

Ranked above its merit

Logged-in-only shows at wp.org #10 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 700+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 7 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Admin Custom Login places #7 on merit, 4.6★ from 388 reviews, but shows at wp.org #12. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #1 2 Admin Columns 100K+ · 4.9★ (1652) wp.org #2 3 Admin Menu Editor 300K+ · 4.6★ (312) wp.org #3 4 Disable Admin Notices – Hide Dashboard Notifications 100K+ · 4.7★ (367) wp.org #4 5 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #5 6 View Admin As 9K+ · 4.9★ (49) wp.org #6 ↑1 7 Admin Custom Login 10K+ · 4.6★ (388) wp.org #12 5 too low 8 User Admin Simplifier 10K+ · 5.0★ (31) wp.org #8 9 Controlled Admin Access 10K+ · 4.8★ (45) wp.org #11 2 too low 10 Admin Bar Editor – Toolbar Customization with User Role based access & Custom menus 3K+ · 4.4★ (24) wp.org #7 ↓1 3 too high 11 Hide Admin Bar from Non-Admins 10K+ · 4.3★ (30) wp.org #9 2 too high 12 Admin Menu Tree Page View 10K+ · 4.6★ (48) wp.org #13 1 too low 13 Show only lowest prices in variable products for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.8★ (28) wp.org #14 1 too low 14 Admin Slug Column 5K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #16 2 too low 15 Admin Menu Search 3K+ · 4.9★ (14) wp.org #15 16 L Logged-in-only 700+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #10 6 too high 17 Admin Management Xtended 5K+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #18 1 too low 18 Auto Hide Admin Bar 3K+ · 4.8★ (32) wp.org #23 ↓1 5 too low 19 Admin Columns for ACF Fields 9K+ · 4.9★ (20) wp.org #19 20 All In One Login 60K+ · 3.6★ (35) wp.org #20 ↑3 21 Admin Search 1K+ · 4.5★ (18) wp.org #21 ↓1 22 Slash Admin 500+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 WPC Admin Columns 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #17 6 too high 24 Protect Admin 2K+ · 5.0★ (5) 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.