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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “age restriction”

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 “age restriction”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 2 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

VelvetGate – A Luxury-Style Age Gate shows at wp.org #10 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 10+ 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

WCFM – Frontend Manager for WooCommerce places #9 on merit, 4.5★ from 286 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Age Gate 40K+ · 4.6★ (64) wp.org #1 2 Popup Builder – Create highly converting, mobile friendly marketing popups. 200K+ · 4.7★ (2215) wp.org #6 4 too low 3 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1717) wp.org #8 ↑1 5 too low 4 Age Gate Lite 2K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Country Based Restrictions for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.5★ (52) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 Spam Protection | Maspik 30K+ · 4.7★ (87) wp.org #14 ↑1 7 too low 8 Marijuana Age Verify 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #3 5 too high 9 WCFM – Frontend Manager for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.5★ (286) wp.org #20 ↑2 11 too low 10 Fastest Age Verification 500+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #4 6 too high 11 FAZ Cookie Manager 2K+ · 5.0★ (27) wp.org #19 ↑1 8 too low 12 EventPrime – Events Calendar, Bookings, Tickets & AI 7K+ · 4.5★ (84) wp.org #18 ↓2 6 too low 13 Additional Terms Lite for WooCommerce 2K+ · 3.6★ (16) wp.org #11 ↑1 2 too high 14 Product Feed for Google Shopping, Microsoft Advertising and 40+ Channels for WooCommerce Merchant 2K+ · 4.8★ (87) wp.org #22 ↑1 8 too low 15 Melapress Login Security 3K+ · 4.8★ (19) wp.org #21 6 too low 16 AI Popup 400+ · 4.6★ (21) wp.org #17 ↑2 1 too low 17 Minimum and Maximum Quantity for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.0★ (16) wp.org #16 ↑2 1 too high 18 WPZOOM Forms – Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder for WordPress 10K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #13 ↑1 5 too high 19 Pay4All Age Verification – For WooCommerce & Pay4All Shop 60+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 ↑1 10 too high 20 AgeOnce Age Verification for WooCommerce 10+ · 4.3★ (3) wp.org #12 ↑1 8 too high 21 VelvetGate – A Luxury-Style Age Gate 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 ↑1 11 too high 22 XYZ Age Verification — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 ↑2 7 too high 23 ByticsLab Age Restrictions for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23

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.