Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “hide categories”

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 “hide categories”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 6 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

Hide Archive Label shows at wp.org #10 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 900+ 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

ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 2051 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 Hide My WP Ghost – Security & Firewall 100K+ · 4.5★ (373) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too low 2 Hide Categories and Products for Woocommerce 10K+ · 4.1★ (29) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 WP Hide & Security Enhancer 50K+ · 4.3★ (275) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 Ultimate Category Excluder 50K+ · 4.3★ (78) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Hide Posts 20K+ · 4.7★ (22) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Category Order and Taxonomy Terms Order 500K+ · 4.5★ (162) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #20 ↑2 13 too low 8 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #21 13 too low 9 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #23 ↑1 14 too low 10 Category Posts Block 40K+ · 4.5★ (79) wp.org #18 8 too low 11 Hide Shipping Method For WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.0★ (25) wp.org #6 5 too high 12 JS Categories List Widget 1K+ · 4.8★ (15) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 Categories Metabox Enhanced 1K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #13 ↑2 14 WP Categories Widget 6K+ · 4.5★ (27) wp.org #12 2 too high 15 Product Category Slider & Grid for WooCommerce – Reno Product Category 9K+ · 4.8★ (91) wp.org #16 ↓3 1 too low 16 Collapsing Categories 4K+ · 4.1★ (57) wp.org #15 ↓1 1 too high 17 WP Hide Post — Hide Posts, Pages, Custom Post Types, and Control Products Visibility for WooCommerce 3K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #9 8 too high 18 Hide Drafts in Menus 1K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #14 ↑2 4 too high 19 Hide Cart Functions 3K+ · 4.6★ (14) wp.org #19 ↓2 20 Hide Category by User Role for WooCommerce 300+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #7 13 too high 21 P Product Categories/Tags Bottom Description for WooCommerce 3K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too low 22 Hide Price and Add to Cart for WooCommerce 800+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #17 ↑3 5 too high 23 ELEX Hide WooCommerce Shipping Methods 1K+ · 3.1★ (8) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Hide Archive Label 900+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 14 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.