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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “block permissions”

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 “block permissions”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

Flexa Block – Blocks & Page Builder shows at wp.org #16 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) places #8 on merit, 4.9★ from 8865 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 PublishPress Blocks – Block Controls, Block Visibility, Block Permissions 20K+ · 4.7★ (204) wp.org #1 2 Block Visibility — Conditional Visibility Control for the Block Editor 40K+ · 4.9★ (108) wp.org #2 3 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1277) wp.org #3 4 PublishPress Capabilities: User Role Access Control, Admin Area Permissions 100K+ · 4.7★ (143) wp.org #4 ↑1 5 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1717) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (332) wp.org #6 ↓2 7 PublishPress Permissions: Access Control, Content Permissions, User Access 10K+ · 4.3★ (66) wp.org #5 ↑1 2 too high 8 Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8865) wp.org #12 4 too low 9 Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1009) wp.org #9 10 SimpLy Gallery 40K+ · 4.8★ (116) wp.org #10 11 Flexible Table Block 40K+ · 4.9★ (34) wp.org #8 3 too high 12 Create Block Theme 20K+ · 4.8★ (37) wp.org #11 ↑2 1 too high 13 Code Block Pro – Beautiful Syntax Highlighting 10K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #13 ↑1 14 Stackable – Page Builder Gutenberg Blocks 100K+ · 4.9★ (521) wp.org #24 10 too low 15 Custom Block Builder – Lazy Blocks 20K+ · 4.9★ (80) wp.org #20 ↑1 5 too low 16 Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (549) wp.org #22 ↑1 6 too low 17 Meta Field Block – Display Custom Fields for ACF, Meta Box and More 10K+ · 5.0★ (57) wp.org #18 ↑1 1 too low 18 Custom HTML Block Extension 7K+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #14 ↑1 4 too high 19 Super block slider – Image/video background & content slider 8K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #15 ↑1 4 too high 20 Genesis Blocks 40K+ · 3.7★ (24) wp.org #21 ↑1 1 too low 21 Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 10K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #23 ↑1 2 too low 22 Block Responsive – Make Editor Blocks Responsive Easily 700+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #17 ↑1 5 too high 23 FrontEdit – Live Frontend Block Editor 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 ↑1 4 too high 24 Flexa Block – Blocks & Page Builder 1K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↑1 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.