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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “audit log”

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 “audit log”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

Logify WP – Activity Log & User Audit Log shows at wp.org #11 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 300+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 5209 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5038) wp.org #1 2 WP Activity Log 300K+ · 4.7★ (490) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too low 3 Activity Log – Monitor User and Agent Changes 200K+ · 4.3★ (74) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too high 4 Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes 300K+ · 4.9★ (491) wp.org #4 ↑1 5 Stream – Activity Log & Audit Trail 70K+ · 4.3★ (76) wp.org #5 ↑1 6 Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #9 ↓1 3 too low 7 Defender Security – Malware Scanner, Login Security & Firewall 80K+ · 4.8★ (334) wp.org #13 ↑2 6 too low 8 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 #16 ↓12 8 too low 9 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #14 ↓3 5 too low 10 Activity Log Pro – User Activity Log, Audit Log & Security Monitor 400+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #6 ↑1 4 too high 11 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #15 ↓2 4 too low 12 Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #7 ↑2 5 too high 13 WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (195) wp.org #20 ↑3 7 too low 14 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #23 9 too low 15 FluentAuth – Login Security, Two-Factor Authentication, Passkeys & Social Login 10K+ · 4.1★ (35) wp.org #12 ↑5 3 too high 16 Advanced IP Blocker 3K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #18 ↑6 2 too low 17 Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #19 ↓1 2 too low 18 Agent Abilities for MCP – Connect Claude and ChatGPT with Permission Controls and Audit Log 800+ · 4.8★ (5) wp.org #8 ↑2 10 too high 19 WP Admin Audit 1K+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #10 ↑2 9 too high 20 Activity Logs, User Activity Tracking, Multisite Activity Log from Logtivity 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #17 ↓1 3 too high 21 Who Changed It? – Activity Log & Audit Trail 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #21 ↓1 22 Logify WP – Activity Log & User Audit Log 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #11 ↑3 11 too high 23 Lockora Security Audit 200+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #22 ↓3 1 too high 24 Cookies, Terms & Conditions Consent Log 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #24

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.