wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “disable plugin 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 plugin editor”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

Disable Everything shows at wp.org #10 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 30K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin signals wp.org

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

Disable Gutenberg 500K+ · 5.0★ (735) wp.org #2 ↑1 3

Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #3 ↓1 4

Disable Comments 1M+ · 4.7★ (281) wp.org #4 5

Checkout Field Editor (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce 400K+ · 4.9★ (1056) wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too low 6

Admin Menu Editor 300K+ · 4.6★ (312) wp.org #6 ↑1 7

WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4229) wp.org #9 ↑4 2 too low 8

Classic Editor + 30K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #5 3 too high 9

Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #11 ↑3 2 too low 10

All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #13 ↓1 3 too low 11

Payment Plugins for Stripe WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.8★ (303) wp.org #12 ↓1 1 too low 12

Security Optimizer – The All-In-One Protection Plugin 1M+ · 4.5★ (157) wp.org #8 4 too high 13

Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #20 ↑2 7 too low 14

Advanced Editor Tools 1M+ · 4.5★ (354) wp.org #16 ↓7 2 too low 15

Plugin Organizer 10K+ · 4.7★ (227) wp.org #22 ↑1 7 too low 16

Disable WP REST API 30K+ · 4.8★ (36) wp.org #14 ↑10 2 too high 17

BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) wp.org #23 6 too low 18

WP Editor 20K+ · 4.5★ (95) wp.org #24 6 too low 19

Widget Disable 10K+ · 4.8★ (24) thin reviews wp.org #21 2 too low 20

Disable Everything 30K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #10 10 too high 21

Disable Embeds 10K+ · 4.3★ (20) thin reviews wp.org #18 3 too high 22

Disable WP Notification 10K+ · 4.3★ (12) thin reviews wp.org #15 7 too high 23

Classic Editor and Classic Widgets 20K+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #17 ↓1 6 too high 24

Disable Gutenberg 500+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews 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.