wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “disable user”
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 user”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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 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
SMNTCS Disable REST API User Endpoints shows at wp.org #11 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 8K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 8869 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.
Disable Comments 1M+ · 4.7★ (281)
wp.org #1 ↑2 2 
Disable Gutenberg 500K+ · 5.0★ (735)
wp.org #2 ↓1 3 
User Registration & Membership – Free & Paid Memberships, Subscriptions, Content Restriction, User Profile, Custom User Registration & Login Builder 50K+ · 4.8★ (832)
wp.org #6 3 too low 4 
Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281)
wp.org #7 3 too low 5 
Disable Admin Notices – Hide Dashboard Notifications 100K+ · 4.7★ (367)
wp.org #8 3 too low 6 
Disable Comments 100K+ · 3.8★ (25)
wp.org #4 ↑1 2 too high 7 
Stop User Enumeration 60K+ · 4.9★ (132)
wp.org #12 ↑4 5 too low 8 
Disable User Login 6K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #3 ↓1 5 too high 9 Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869)
wp.org #19 ↑4 10 too low 10 
Disable Emails 30K+ · 5.0★ (20) thin reviews
wp.org #9 1 too high 11 
Disable WP REST API 30K+ · 4.8★ (36)
wp.org #13 ↑4 2 too low 12 
User Frontend – Membership, User Registration, User Profile, User Directory & Content Restriction with Frontend Post Submission 20K+ · 4.1★ (537) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #14 2 too low 13 
New User Approve 20K+ · 4.3★ (131)
wp.org #18 ↓3 5 too low 14 
Disable User Password Reset Admin Notifications 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #5 ↓1 9 too high 15 
One User Avatar | User Profile Picture 100K+ · 4.7★ (41)
wp.org #16 ↓3 1 too low 16 
Disable Media Sizes 10K+ · 5.0★ (23) thin reviews
wp.org #15 ↓3 1 too high 17 
Open User Map – Interactive Leaflet Maps 10K+ · 5.0★ (70)
wp.org #24 7 too low 18 
User Access Manager 10K+ · 4.4★ (112)
wp.org #23 ↓1 5 too low 19 
Widget Disable 10K+ · 4.8★ (24) thin reviews
wp.org #20 ↓2 1 too low 20 
Disable Everything 30K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #10 10 too high 21 
Disable Media Pages 10K+ · 5.0★ (17) thin reviews
wp.org #22 ↓2 1 too low 22 
Disable WP Notification 10K+ · 4.3★ (12) thin reviews
wp.org #17 ↓3 5 too high 23 
Disable WP Sitemaps 10K+ · 5.0★ (10) thin reviews
wp.org #21 ↓2 2 too high 24 SMNTCS Disable REST API User Endpoints 8K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #11 13 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.