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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “copy protected”

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 “copy protected”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Password Protected Site and Store shows at wp.org #12 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 90+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups places #3 on merit, 4.8★ from 2470 reviews, but shows at wp.org #10. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click 100K+ · 4.8★ (1138) wp.org #1 2 Secure Copy Content Protection and Content Locking 20K+ · 4.3★ (62) wp.org #2 3 WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470) wp.org #10 7 too low 4 BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too low 5 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #8 ↓2 3 too low 6 Loco Translate 1M+ · 4.8★ (453) wp.org #7 ↓2 1 too low 7 Protected Video 1K+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #3 4 too high 8 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #14 ↓2 6 too low 9 Quiz Maker by AYS 20K+ · 4.9★ (601) wp.org #16 ↑5 7 too low 10 Prevent Direct Access – Protect WordPress Files 10K+ · 4.6★ (297) wp.org #17 ↓4 7 too low 11 WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346) wp.org #18 ↑1 7 too low 12 Duplicate Post – duplicate pages, copy content, clone posts 5K+ · 4.7★ (7) wp.org #4 8 too high 13 Disable Right Click RB – Content Copy Protection, Prevent Copy & No Right Click 600+ · 4.2★ (14) wp.org #6 ↑5 7 too high 14 Simple Membership 40K+ · 4.6★ (475) wp.org #15 ↓1 1 too low 15 FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995) wp.org #23 ↓5 8 too low 16 Invisible reCaptcha 70K+ · 4.3★ (133) wp.org #22 6 too low 17 CopySafe PDF Protection – Copy Protect PDF 300+ · 3.9★ (14) wp.org #9 ↓2 8 too high 18 Advanced IP Blocker 3K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 Protect Uploads 30K+ · 4.8★ (12) wp.org #19 ↓4 20 CopySafe Web Protection – Copy Protect Images 800+ · 4.1★ (12) wp.org #11 ↓3 9 too high 21 Right Click Ban – Disable Right Click & Content Copy Protection 400+ · 4.3★ (7) wp.org #20 ↓3 1 too high 22 CopySafe Video Protection – Copy Protect Video 100+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #13 ↓4 9 too high 23 Simple Content Copy Protection & No Right Click 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #21 ↓1 2 too high 24 Password Protected Site and Store 90+ · 4.0★ (3) wp.org #12 ↓2 12 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.