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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “document authentication”

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 “document authentication”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 2 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

Employee Verification & Document Authentication shows at wp.org #5 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 18 places. Its 10+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Document Gallery 8K+ · 4.8★ (112) wp.org #1 2 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Two Factor Authentication 20K+ · 4.4★ (77) wp.org #2 ↓1 1 too high 4 Two Factor 100K+ · 4.7★ (209) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too low 5 Download Manager 100K+ · 4.1★ (1006) wp.org #8 ↓2 3 too low 6 EmbedPress 100K+ · 4.8★ (307) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 Bit Form – Contact Form, Payment Forms, Multi Step Forms, Calculator & Custom Form Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (259) wp.org #10 ↓1 3 too low 8 WP-Members Membership Plugin 50K+ · 4.6★ (272) wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too low 9 SAML Single Sign On – SSO Login 10K+ · 4.9★ (402) wp.org #12 ↓1 3 too low 10 WP Document Revisions 2K+ · 3.7★ (23) wp.org #4 ↓2 6 too high 11 Prevent Direct Access – Protect WordPress Files 10K+ · 4.6★ (297) wp.org #14 3 too low 12 Login for Google Apps by WPAuth 10K+ · 4.6★ (64) wp.org #11 ↓1 1 too high 13 Calculated Fields Form – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact, Payment, Quote, Quiz & More 40K+ · 4.9★ (973) wp.org #22 ↓5 9 too low 14 PDF Poster – Let visitors read PDF’s without leaving the page 20K+ · 4.5★ (149) wp.org #15 ↓3 1 too low 15 File Manager 10K+ · 4.3★ (202) wp.org #23 8 too low 16 miniOrange Embed Files for SharePoint/OneDrive 700+ · 5.0★ (41) wp.org #17 ↓2 1 too low 17 MxChat – AI Chatbot & Content Generation for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (31) wp.org #13 4 too high 18 Speculative Loading 70K+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #18 19 Contact Form to Any API 8K+ · 5.0★ (28) wp.org #19 20 Office 365 User Authentication for WordPress 20+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #20 21 Cloud Storage Manager for Fluent Forms – Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, S3 Uploads 400+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 Shibboleth 3K+ · 4.3★ (7) wp.org #21 ↑2 1 too high 23 Employee Verification & Document Authentication 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 ↓1 18 too high 24 GetTerms Cookie Consent & Policies 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 8 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.