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

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 “guardian”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 5 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

S2B AI Assistant – ChatBot, Chatbot Inspector, Image Generator shows at wp.org #18 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 4 places. Its 40+ 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

WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click places #2 on merit, 4.8★ from 1138 reviews, but shows at wp.org #7. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click 100K+ · 4.8★ (1138) wp.org #7 ↓1 5 too low 3 Broken Link Notifier 1K+ · 4.8★ (14) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 WP Guardian – Security Hardening Checklist & Lightweight Firewall 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #1 3 too high 5 Form Guardian for Contact Form 7 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #3 ↑5 2 too high 6 Sitemap Guardian 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 ↓1 7 Guardian Gaze Security – Malware & Database Scanner, File Integrity Monitoring, IP Blocking 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 ↓1 2 too high 8 BrandBees Malware Guardian 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 ↓1 9 Elohim Cyber Guardian 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 10 S SPP Guardian Security & Maintenance — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 11 Scheduled Post Guardian 60+ · 2.8★ (9) wp.org #20 ↓1 9 too low 12 SumeetSarna – Update Guardian — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 Guardian – Conflict Detector & Safe Updates — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 1 too high 14 C Cristian Broken Link Guardian — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 1 too high 15 JAZ-X PHP Security Guardian — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 1 too high 16 Libro de Reclamaciones para Perú 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↓1 1 too high 17 Glimbyte SSL Guardian — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓1 1 too high 18 ADA Compliance Guardian — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too low 19 Student Result Management System 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓1 2 too low 20 Koinonia Link 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↓1 3 too high 21 SkooliPress – School Management System 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too low 22 S2B AI Assistant – ChatBot, Chatbot Inspector, Image Generator 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 ↓1 4 too high 23 Sprint Families — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓1 1 too low 24 Fullworks Security Scanner 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 ↓1 1 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.