wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “content editor”
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 editor”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 4 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
Passster – Password Protect Pages and Content shows at wp.org #13 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 60 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI places #5 on merit, 4.8★ from 27821 reviews, but shows at wp.org #9. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Classic Editor 8M+ · 4.9★ (1251)
wp.org #1 2 
Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281)
wp.org #2 ↑1 3 
User Role Editor 700K+ · 4.5★ (288)
wp.org #3 ↓1 4 
Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) heavy footprint
wp.org #4 ↑3 5 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821)
wp.org #9 ↑1 4 too low 6 
Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418)
wp.org #7 ↓2 1 too low 7 
Admin Menu Editor 300K+ · 4.6★ (312)
wp.org #6 1 too high 8 
Classic Editor + 30K+ · 4.9★ (31)
wp.org #5 ↓1 3 too high 9 
Advanced Editor Tools 1M+ · 4.5★ (354)
wp.org #8 1 too high 10 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #10 ↓1 11 
Content Views – Post Grid & Filter (Shortcode, Blocks, Elementor Widgets) 100K+ · 4.8★ (333) heavy footprint
wp.org #11 ↑1 12 
Content Control – The Ultimate Content Restriction Solution! Restrict Content, Create Conditional Blocks & More 40K+ · 4.9★ (575)
wp.org #15 ↑1 3 too low 13 
WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click 100K+ · 4.8★ (1138)
wp.org #17 4 too low 14 
User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor 40K+ · 4.7★ (738)
wp.org #20 6 too low 15 
Theme Editor 50K+ · 4.6★ (128)
wp.org #14 ↑1 1 too high 16 
BEAR – Bulk Editor for WooCommerce Professional. AI assistant on board (MCP Server) 30K+ · 4.7★ (228) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #12 ↑2 4 too high 17 
Htaccess File Editor – Safely Edit Htaccess File 40K+ · 5.0★ (102)
wp.org #18 ↑1 1 too low 18 
HTML Editor Syntax Highlighter 60K+ · 4.4★ (110)
wp.org #19 ↑2 1 too low 19 
WP Editor 20K+ · 4.5★ (95)
wp.org #22 ↑2 3 too low 20 
WPFront User Role Editor 30K+ · 4.5★ (65)
wp.org #23 3 too low 21 
Secure Copy Content Protection and Content Locking 20K+ · 4.3★ (62)
wp.org #24 3 too low 22 Passster – Password Protect Pages and Content 10K+ · 4.2★ (60) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #13 ↓2 9 too high 23 
MxChat – AI Chatbot & Content Generation for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (31) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #21 ↑2 2 too high 24 
Better Block Editor (BBE) 6K+ · 5.0★ (11) not PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #16 ↑2 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.