Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 url”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 4 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 Author Archive shows at wp.org #12 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 600+ 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

Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin places #12 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 WPS Hide Login 2M+ · 4.8★ (2111) wp.org #1 2 Hide My WP Ghost – Security & Firewall 100K+ · 4.5★ (373) wp.org #2 3 Featured Image from URL (FIFU) 60K+ · 4.6★ (264) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 WP Hide & Security Enhancer 50K+ · 4.3★ (275) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 URL Shortify – Simple and Easy URL Shortener 10K+ · 4.7★ (169) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 Easy Hide Login 20K+ · 4.4★ (43) wp.org #5 2 too high 8 Disable Admin Notices – Hide Dashboard Notifications 100K+ · 4.7★ (367) wp.org #11 ↑1 3 too low 9 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #16 ↓1 7 too low 10 WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #18 ↑1 8 too low 11 Hide Posts 20K+ · 4.7★ (22) wp.org #7 4 too high 12 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #22 10 too low 13 LWS Hide Login 20K+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #8 5 too high 14 Security Optimizer – The All-In-One Protection Plugin 1M+ · 4.5★ (157) wp.org #21 7 too low 15 Hide Cart Functions 3K+ · 4.6★ (14) wp.org #13 2 too high 16 Coupons & Add to Cart by URL Links for WooCommerce 2K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #14 2 too high 17 WP Hide Post — Hide Posts, Pages, Custom Post Types, and Control Products Visibility for WooCommerce 3K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #10 7 too high 18 Hide Admin Menu 10K+ · 4.9★ (13) wp.org #23 ↑1 5 too low 19 Hide Category by User Role for WooCommerce 300+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #17 2 too high 20 Hide Price and Add to Cart for WooCommerce 800+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #15 ↑1 5 too high 21 My Wp Brand – Hide menu & Hide Plugin 2K+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #19 ↓1 2 too high 22 Hide Link | Really hide links to robots 100+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #20 2 too high 23 Hide Author Archive 600+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↓1 11 too high 24 1 1ON1 URL REDIRECTS 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24

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.