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

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 verification”, we and wp.org disagree 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

Easy Age Verify shows at wp.org #8 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

The Plus Addons for Elementor – Addons for Elementor, Page Templates, Widgets, Mega Menu, WooCommerce places #5 on merit, 4.6★ from 387 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 #2 1 too low 2 Advanced Age Verification Popup 600+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #16 13 too low 4 Fastest Age Verification 500+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 The Plus Addons for Elementor – Addons for Elementor, Page Templates, Widgets, Mega Menu, WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.6★ (387) wp.org #20 15 too low 6 Privacy Policy Generator, Terms & Conditions, GDPR, CCPA, Cookie Policy & Disclaimer Templates – WPLP Legal Pages 10K+ · 4.7★ (93) wp.org #12 6 too low 7 CPS | Age Verification 800+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #4 3 too high 8 Age Gate Lite 2K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 Identity Verification for WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too low 10 FireBox – WooCommerce Popup Builder, Exit Intent Popup, Email Optin & Cart Abandonment 7K+ · 4.8★ (76) wp.org #22 12 too low 11 WP Terms Popup – Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy WordPress Popups 3K+ · 4.8★ (15) wp.org #11 12 Age Verification & Identity Verification by Token of Trust 40+ · 4.3★ (15) wp.org #9 ↑1 3 too high 13 Marijuana Age Verify 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #6 7 too high 14 HashBar – Announcement, Notification Bar & Popup Campaign 9K+ · 4.2★ (36) wp.org #23 9 too low 15 Age Verification for your checkout page. Verify your customer's identity 600+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #7 8 too high 16 WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (580) wp.org #18 2 too low 17 Easy Age Verify 1K+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #8 9 too high 18 Packeta 8K+ · 4.0★ (9) wp.org #17 ↓2 1 too high 19 AgeOnce Age Verification for WooCommerce 10+ · 4.3★ (3) wp.org #14 ↓1 5 too high 20 Pay4All Age Verification – For WooCommerce & Pay4All Shop 60+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↑1 7 too high 21 AB Age Gate 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 ↑2 6 too high 22 XYZ Age Verification — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 3 too high 23 VelvetGate – A Luxury-Style Age Gate 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 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.