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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “blacklist comments”

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 “blacklist comments”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 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.

Ranked above its merit

Block List Updater shows at wp.org #9 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 397 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 Blacklist Manager – WooCommerce Anti-Fraud, Blacklist & Checkout Verification 2K+ · 3.6★ (14) wp.org #1 2 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #5 ↑1 3 too low 3 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #8 ↓4 5 too low 4 Loginizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1033) wp.org #6 ↑2 2 too low 5 Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads 300K+ · 4.9★ (2433) wp.org #10 5 too low 6 Gravity Forms Email Blacklist 10K+ · 4.3★ (15) wp.org #3 3 too high 7 Comment Blacklist Updater 800+ · 4.8★ (4) wp.org #2 5 too high 8 Site Reviews 60K+ · 4.9★ (376) wp.org #14 6 too low 9 Antispam Bee 700K+ · 4.8★ (226) wp.org #15 6 too low 10 Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #21 ↑2 11 too low 11 Statify 100K+ · 4.8★ (51) wp.org #13 ↓1 2 too low 12 SilentShield – Captcha & Anti-Spam for WordPress (CF7, WPForms, Elementor, WooCommerce) 10K+ · 4.7★ (24) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 Zero Spam for WordPress 20K+ · 4.1★ (143) wp.org #17 ↑4 4 too low 14 Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #12 ↑1 2 too high 15 Disqus Conditional Load 3K+ · 4.5★ (64) wp.org #18 ↓1 3 too low 16 Comment Blacklist Manager 500+ · 4.4★ (5) wp.org #4 ↑1 12 too high 17 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #20 ↓2 3 too low 18 CM E-Mail Blacklist – Simple email filtering for safer registration 700+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #7 11 too high 19 La Sentinelle antispam 3K+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #22 3 too low 20 No-Bot Registration 2K+ · 4.4★ (28) wp.org #24 ↓2 4 too low 21 DoLogin Security 7K+ · 4.5★ (13) wp.org #23 ↓3 2 too low 22 Block List Updater 2K+ · 4.3★ (4) wp.org #9 13 too high 23 Virusdie | One-click website security 2K+ · 4.0★ (9) wp.org #19 4 too high 24 Antispam for Elementor Forms 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 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.