wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “content control”
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 “content control”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 5 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
Mediavine Control Panel shows at wp.org #10 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 7519 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Content Control – The Ultimate Content Restriction Solution! Restrict Content, Create Conditional Blocks & More 40K+ · 4.9★ (575)
wp.org #1 2 
Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418)
wp.org #2 3 
Content Views – Post Grid & Filter (Shortcode, Blocks, Elementor Widgets) 100K+ · 4.8★ (333) heavy footprint
wp.org #3 4 
Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821)
wp.org #5 ↑5 1 too low 5 
WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click 100K+ · 4.8★ (1138)
wp.org #6 ↑2 1 too low 6 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #4 ↑3 2 too high 7 
Table of Contents Plus – Automatic Table of Contents for Posts & Pages 200K+ · 4.5★ (187)
wp.org #8 ↓2 1 too low 8 
Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction 10K+ · 4.7★ (270)
wp.org #13 ↑2 5 too low 9 
WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #9 ↓4 10 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519)
wp.org #23 ↓2 13 too low 11 
Content Aware Sidebars – Fastest Widget Area Plugin 30K+ · 4.9★ (724) not PHP-current
wp.org #18 7 too low 12 
Passster – Password Protect Pages and Content 10K+ · 4.2★ (60) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #7 ↓3 5 too high 13 
All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #21 ↓9 8 too low 14 
Min Max Control – Min Max Quantity & Step Control for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.7★ (79) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #12 ↑1 2 too high 15 
PublishPress Permissions: Access Control, Content Permissions, User Access 10K+ · 4.3★ (66)
wp.org #16 ↓2 1 too low 16 
Easy Table of Contents 600K+ · 4.4★ (221)
wp.org #19 ↑1 3 too low 17 
Disabled Source, Disabled Right Click and Content Protection 10K+ · 4.9★ (103)
wp.org #24 7 too low 18 
Image Source Control Lite – Show Image Credits and Captions 3K+ · 4.6★ (42)
wp.org #17 1 too high 19 
Better Plugin Compatibility Control 4K+ · 4.3★ (19) thin reviews
wp.org #11 8 too high 20 
Timed Content 5K+ · 4.6★ (41)
wp.org #20 ↓1 21 
MxChat – AI Chatbot & Content Generation for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (31) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #15 ↑8 6 too high 22 Mediavine Control Panel 10K+ · 4.2★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #10 ↓1 12 too high 23 
Content Egg – Affiliate Product Importer & Price Comparison 10K+ · 3.9★ (56) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #22 1 too high 24 
Menu Visibility Control 700+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #14 10 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.