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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “change admin”

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 “change admin”, 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

Change Username shows at wp.org #9 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 4K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.6★ average from 7 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Admin Custom Login places #10 on merit, 4.6★ from 388 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 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #1 2 Change Admin Email 40K+ · 4.8★ (141) wp.org #2 3 Admin Menu Editor 300K+ · 4.6★ (312) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Simple Admin Language Change 10K+ · 4.7★ (22) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Schedule Post Changes With PublishPress Future: Unpublish, Delete, Change Status, Trash, Change Categories 100K+ · 4.5★ (172) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes 300K+ · 4.9★ (491) wp.org #10 4 too low 7 Disable Admin Notices – Hide Dashboard Notifications 100K+ · 4.7★ (367) wp.org #11 4 too low 8 All In One Login 60K+ · 3.6★ (35) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 Activity Log – Monitor User and Agent Changes 200K+ · 4.3★ (74) wp.org #8 1 too high 10 Admin Custom Login 10K+ · 4.6★ (388) wp.org #21 11 too low 11 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #22 11 too low 12 View Admin As 9K+ · 4.9★ (49) wp.org #16 4 too low 13 User Admin Simplifier 10K+ · 5.0★ (31) wp.org #17 4 too low 14 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #14 15 Controlled Admin Access 10K+ · 4.8★ (45) wp.org #20 5 too low 16 F Featured Image Admin Thumb 20K+ · 4.7★ (40) wp.org #19 3 too low 17 Admin Menu Tree Page View 10K+ · 4.6★ (48) wp.org #23 6 too low 18 Admin login URL Change 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #6 12 too high 19 WP Change Email Sender 10K+ · 4.9★ (10) wp.org #15 4 too high 20 Bulk Datetime Change 6K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #12 8 too high 21 Admin Bar Editor – Toolbar Customization with User Role based access & Custom menus 3K+ · 4.4★ (24) wp.org #18 3 too high 22 Change Username 4K+ · 4.6★ (7) wp.org #9 13 too high 23 Change WordPress Admin Logo 400+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #13 10 too high 24 Rename wp-admin login 9K+ · 3.9★ (7) 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.