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

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 editor”, we agree with wp.org 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

Classic Editor and Classic Widgets shows at wp.org #12 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 20K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) places #10 on merit, 5.0★ from 423 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Classic Editor 8M+ · 4.9★ (1251) wp.org #1 2

Disable Gutenberg 500K+ · 5.0★ (735) wp.org #2 3

Disable Comments 1M+ · 4.7★ (281) wp.org #3 ↑1 4

Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #6 2 too low 5

Admin Menu Editor 300K+ · 4.6★ (312) wp.org #5 ↑2 6

Checkout Field Editor (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce 400K+ · 4.9★ (1056) wp.org #7 ↓2 1 too low 7

Classic Editor + 30K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #4 ↑5 3 too high 8

Advanced Editor Tools 1M+ · 4.5★ (354) wp.org #10 ↓7 2 too low 9

Disable WP REST API 30K+ · 4.8★ (36) wp.org #9 ↑6 10

Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #19 ↑4 9 too low 11

HTML Editor Syntax Highlighter 60K+ · 4.4★ (110) wp.org #18 7 too low 12

WP Editor 20K+ · 4.5★ (95) wp.org #20 ↓1 8 too low 13

Widget Disable 10K+ · 4.8★ (24) thin reviews wp.org #14 ↓1 1 too low 14

WPFront User Role Editor 30K+ · 4.5★ (65) wp.org #22 8 too low 15

Disable Everything 30K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #8 7 too high 16

BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #24 8 too low 17

Disable Embeds 10K+ · 4.3★ (20) thin reviews wp.org #13 ↓1 4 too high 18

Disable WP Notification 10K+ · 4.3★ (12) thin reviews wp.org #11 ↓1 7 too high 19

Disable Blog 20K+ · 4.7★ (14) thin reviews wp.org #17 ↓1 2 too high 20

Disable XML-RPC-API 100K+ · 4.2★ (43) wp.org #23 ↓3 3 too low 21

Classic Editor and Classic Widgets 20K+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #12 ↓1 9 too high 22

Disable Block Editor FullScreen mode 1K+ · 4.3★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #16 ↑1 6 too high 23

Classic Visual Editor Options 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #21 2 too high 24

Disable Gutenberg 500+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #15 ↓1 9 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.