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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “guard”

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 “guard”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 17 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

RMGCaptcha Math Guard – Math CAPTCHA for Login and WooCommerce shows at wp.org #8 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 70+ 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.

Buried gem

NinjaFirewall (WP Edition) – Advanced Security Plugin and Firewall places #7 on merit, 4.9★ from 220 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 wp.org
1 Injection Guard 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #1 2 EU VAT Guard for WooCommerce 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #2 3 VPN Guard – Block VPN, Proxy, Bots & Anonymous Visitors 200+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #7 ↑3 4 too low 4 La Sentinelle antispam 3K+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #13 ↓1 9 too low 5 Broken Link Checker 500K+ · 3.8★ (605) wp.org #14 ↓1 9 too low 6 REST API Guard 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #3 ↑1 3 too high 7 NinjaFirewall (WP Edition) – Advanced Security Plugin and Firewall 100K+ · 4.9★ (220) wp.org #23 16 too low 8 My Private Site – Make Your Whole Site Private, Force Login & Block Registration Spam 10K+ · 4.5★ (82) wp.org #24 16 too low 9 M Media Search Enhanced 5K+ · 4.4★ (28) wp.org #22 ↑1 13 too low 10 Checkout Guard – Block Fake Orders, Spam & Fraud for WooCommerce 90+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #6 4 too high 11 B Batch REST Guard 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 6 too high 12 Honeypot Guard – Silent Anti-Spam 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 ↓1 8 too high 13 Admin Safety Guard — Login Security, Limit Logins, 2FA & Brute Force Protection 20+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #21 ↑1 8 too low 14 MyFast Login Guard – Login Protection & Server Info 30+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #11 ↑4 3 too high 15 Duplicate Media Guard 20+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #12 ↑2 3 too high 16 Guard Dog 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 ↑1 1 too high 17 RMGCaptcha Math Guard – Math CAPTCHA for Login and WooCommerce 70+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 ↓1 9 too high 18 Selective Image Guard | A deterrent for unauthorized downloads and scraping 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 ↓1 9 too high 19 Content Guard Pro – Database Malware Scanner & SEO Spam Detector 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 ↓1 9 too high 20 Artiman Guard 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↑1 4 too high 21 Accessibility Guard 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓6 4 too high 22 CB Bot Guard 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 4 too high 23 Price Guard – Hide Price & Add to Cart for WooCommerce 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 3 too high 24 InTouch Integrity Guard 10+ · 5.0★ (1) 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.