Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “content visibility”

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 visibility”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 2 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

Menu Visibility Control shows at wp.org #12 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 700+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

User Menus – Nav Menu Visibility places #12 on merit, 5.0★ from 1281 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 Content Visibility for Divi Builder 2K+ · 4.8★ (101) wp.org #1 2 Block Visibility — Conditional Visibility Control for the Block Editor 40K+ · 4.9★ (108) wp.org #2 3 Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #6 ↑2 2 too low 5 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Content Control – The Ultimate Content Restriction Solution! Restrict Content, Create Conditional Blocks & More 40K+ · 4.9★ (575) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 Dynamic Visibility for Elementor 50K+ · 4.6★ (89) wp.org #3 4 too high 8 Visibility Logic for Elementor 20K+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click 100K+ · 4.8★ (1138) wp.org #11 ↓1 2 too low 10 Content Views – Post Grid & Filter (Shortcode, Blocks, Elementor Widgets) 100K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #9 ↓3 1 too high 11 Content Aware Sidebars – Fastest Widget Area Plugin 30K+ · 4.9★ (724) wp.org #14 3 too low 12 User Menus – Nav Menu Visibility 80K+ · 5.0★ (1281) wp.org #21 ↓10 9 too low 13 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #23 ↓2 10 too low 14 If-So Dynamic Content – Elementor & All Page Builders Personalization 7K+ · 4.7★ (92) wp.org #18 ↓3 4 too low 15 Conditional Blocks – Advanced Content Visibility Control for WordPress 2K+ · 4.9★ (15) wp.org #10 ↓1 5 too high 16 VigIA – AI Visibility, Analytics & Control 2K+ · 5.0★ (19) wp.org #19 ↓2 3 too low 17 Product Visibility by User Role for WooCommerce 6K+ · 3.8★ (21) wp.org #13 ↑1 4 too high 18 Widget Visibility Time Scheduler 1K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #15 ↓3 3 too high 19 Advanced Floating Content Lite 7K+ · 4.1★ (30) wp.org #24 ↓1 5 too low 20 Widget Visibility Control 200+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #17 ↑7 3 too high 21 Content Update Scheduler 2K+ · 4.3★ (12) wp.org #22 1 too low 22 Menu Visibility Control 700+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #12 ↑7 10 too high 23 Visibility Controls for Editor Blocks 900+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #16 ↓3 7 too high 24 Osom Block Visibility 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #20 ↓4 4 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.