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← Rankings

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

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 category”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 8 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 Category by User Role for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #5 but places #14 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 300+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin places #8 on merit, 4.9★ from 1281 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. 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 #1 ↑4 2 Ultimate Category Excluder 50K+ · 4.3★ (78) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 WP Hide & Security Enhancer 50K+ · 4.3★ (275) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 Category AJAX Filter – Posts, Custom Post Types & Product Filter 6K+ · 4.9★ (158) wp.org #8 ↑1 4 too low 5 Category Posts Block 40K+ · 4.5★ (79) wp.org #7 ↑1 2 too low 6 Hide Posts 20K+ · 4.7★ (22) wp.org #6 ↑1 7 Hide Categories and Products for Woocommerce 10K+ · 4.1★ (29) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 too high 8 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #22 14 too low 9 Category Order and Taxonomy Terms Order 500K+ · 4.5★ (162) wp.org #13 4 too low 10 Product Category Slider & Grid for WooCommerce – Reno Product Category 9K+ · 4.8★ (91) wp.org #9 ↓3 1 too high 11 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #24 13 too low 12 Hide Cart Functions 3K+ · 4.6★ (14) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 Category Posts in Custom Menu 2K+ · 4.8★ (43) wp.org #20 ↓1 7 too low 14 Hide Category by User Role for WooCommerce 300+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #5 ↓1 9 too high 15 Hide Shipping Method For WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.0★ (25) wp.org #10 5 too high 16 Same Category Posts 3K+ · 4.7★ (13) wp.org #15 1 too high 17 Hide Drafts in Menus 1K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #18 1 too low 18 WP Hide Post — Hide Posts, Pages, Custom Post Types, and Control Products Visibility for WooCommerce 3K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #12 6 too high 19 Tabbed Category Product Listing for Woocommerce 1K+ · 4.9★ (28) wp.org #23 4 too low 20 Product Category Showcase for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #16 4 too high 21 Hide Price and Add to Cart for WooCommerce 800+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #19 ↑3 2 too high 22 Product Category 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 5 too high 23 Hide Archive Label 900+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 9 too high 24 Category Description for WooCommerce 700+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 ↓1 3 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.