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

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 “disable content selection”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20.

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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Selection Lite shows at wp.org #7 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 9K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

User Registration & Membership – Free & Paid Memberships, Subscriptions, Content Restriction, User Profile, Custom User Registration & Login Builder places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 832 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click 100K+ · 4.8★ (1138) wp.org #3 2 too low 2

Secure Copy Content Protection and Content Locking 20K+ · 4.3★ (62) wp.org #2 3

Content Views – Post Grid & Filter (Shortcode, Blocks, Elementor Widgets) 100K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too low 4

Disable Everything 30K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #1 3 too high 5

Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #8 3 too low 6

Passster – Password Protect Pages and Content 10K+ · 4.2★ (60) wp.org #6 ↓2 7

Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #16 ↑2 9 too low 8

WP RSS Aggregator – RSS Import, Feed to Post, Autoblogging, AI Content 40K+ · 4.5★ (565) wp.org #17 9 too low 9

MxChat – AI Chatbot & Content Generation for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (31) wp.org #9 ↓3 10

User Registration & Membership – Free & Paid Memberships, Subscriptions, Content Restriction, User Profile, Custom User Registration & Login Builder 50K+ · 4.8★ (832) wp.org #23 13 too low 11

Disable Right Click RB – Content Copy Protection, Prevent Copy & No Right Click 600+ · 4.2★ (14) thin reviews wp.org #5 ↑5 6 too high 12

PiWeb Disable payment method / Partial payment for WooCommerce 4K+ · 5.0★ (38) wp.org #11 ↓2 1 too high 13

Nelio Content – Editorial Calendar & Social Media Auto-Posting 3K+ · 4.4★ (104) wp.org #13 14

Content Egg – Affiliate Product Importer & Price Comparison 10K+ · 3.9★ (56) wp.org #10 ↓2 4 too high 15

WP Hide & Security Enhancer 50K+ · 4.3★ (275) wp.org #20 ↑4 5 too low 16

WP Content Copy Protection with Color Design 5K+ · 4.5★ (25) wp.org #14 2 too high 17

Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) thin reviews wp.org #18 ↑1 1 too low 18

Right Click Ban – Disable Right Click & Content Copy Protection 400+ · 4.3★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #12 ↓1 6 too high 19

BotWriter – AI Writer & SEO Content Generator 1K+ · 4.4★ (16) thin reviews wp.org #22 ↑1 3 too low 20

AI Content Generator For Elementor 200+ · 4.3★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #21 ↓1 1 too low 21

Simple Content Copy Protection & No Right Click 100+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #19 ↑1 2 too high 22

Unnotifier — disable admin notices individually 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #15 ↑1 7 too high 23

Selection Lite 9K+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #7 16 too high 24

If-So Geolocation 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #24

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.