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

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 “delete default content”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

Passster – Password Protect Pages and Content shows at wp.org #8 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 11 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

Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 7519 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #1 2 Delete Duplicate Posts 10K+ · 4.8★ (153) wp.org #2 3 Duplicate Post 300K+ · 4.9★ (1623) wp.org #3 4 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #7 ↑1 3 too low 5 Content Views – Post Grid & Filter (Shortcode, Blocks, Elementor Widgets) 100K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too low 6 WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click 100K+ · 4.8★ (1138) wp.org #9 ↑1 3 too low 7 Simple Revisions Delete 10K+ · 4.9★ (50) wp.org #5 ↑1 2 too high 8 Media Cleaner: Delete Unused Images & Clean Your Media Library 90K+ · 4.6★ (779) wp.org #12 ↓1 4 too low 9 Delete Expired Transients 4K+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #4 ↑1 5 too high 10 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #15 ↓1 5 too low 11 Schedule Post Changes With PublishPress Future: Unpublish, Delete, Change Status, Trash, Change Categories 100K+ · 4.5★ (172) wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too high 12 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #17 ↑4 5 too low 13 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #20 ↓2 7 too low 14 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #18 ↓1 4 too low 15 Easy Table of Contents 600K+ · 4.4★ (221) wp.org #14 ↓1 1 too high 16 Relevanssi – A Better Search 100K+ · 4.8★ (406) wp.org #22 6 too low 17 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #23 ↓3 6 too low 18 DX Delete Attached Media 3K+ · 4.9★ (28) wp.org #11 7 too high 19 Passster – Password Protect Pages and Content 10K+ · 4.2★ (60) wp.org #8 ↓4 11 too high 20 Cookies and Content Security Policy 10K+ · 4.9★ (67) wp.org #16 ↓1 4 too high 21 MxChat – AI Chatbot & Content Generation for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (31) wp.org #13 ↓1 8 too high 22 Content Mask 1K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #19 ↓3 3 too high 23 C Contact Form 7: Accessible Defaults 5K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Users Bulk Delete With Preview 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 ↓2 3 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.