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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “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 “control”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 of the top 20. 3 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

Order Status Control for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #7 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 4K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 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 #7 on merit, 4.8★ from 27821 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Content Control – The Ultimate Content Restriction Solution! Restrict Content, Create Conditional Blocks & More 40K+ · 4.9★ (575) wp.org #1 2 Min Max Control – Min Max Quantity & Step Control for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.7★ (79) wp.org #2 3 PublishPress Capabilities: User Role Access Control, Admin Area Permissions 90K+ · 4.7★ (143) wp.org #6 ↓5 3 too low 4 Groups – Memberships and Access Control 10K+ · 4.8★ (382) wp.org #9 ↓2 5 too low 5 Better Plugin Compatibility Control 4K+ · 4.3★ (19) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #10 ↑3 4 too low 7 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #18 ↑6 11 too low 8 PublishPress Blocks – Block Controls, Block Visibility, Block Permissions 20K+ · 4.7★ (204) wp.org #13 ↓4 5 too low 9 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #20 ↓5 11 too low 10 U Update Control 4K+ · 4.4★ (17) wp.org #5 5 too high 11 Block Visibility — Conditional Visibility Control for the Block Editor 40K+ · 4.9★ (108) wp.org #16 ↓5 5 too low 12 Image Source Control Lite – Show Image Credits and Captions 3K+ · 4.6★ (42) wp.org #11 ↓3 1 too high 13 Mediavine Control Panel 10K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #4 9 too high 14 VigIA – AI Visibility, Analytics & Control 2K+ · 5.0★ (19) wp.org #12 2 too high 15 PublishPress Permissions: Access Control, Content Permissions, User Access 10K+ · 4.3★ (66) wp.org #22 ↓6 7 too low 16 Dynamic Front-End Heartbeat Control 1K+ · 4.8★ (12) wp.org #17 ↑3 1 too low 17 Module Control for Jetpack 1K+ · 4.8★ (11) wp.org #14 ↓4 3 too high 18 Order Status Control for WooCommerce 4K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #7 ↓1 11 too high 19 Menu Visibility Control 700+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #8 ↑13 11 too high 20 Civic Cookie Control 2K+ · 3.9★ (7) wp.org #15 ↑7 5 too high 21 Widget Visibility Control 200+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 Simple Revision Control 1K+ · 3.8★ (13) wp.org #21 ↓7 1 too high 23 Image Quality Control | Still BE 400+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #24 ↓6 1 too low 24 RSS Control 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 5 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.