Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 wp version”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 2 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

Version Info – Server Health Monitor, PHP & MySQL Version Display, Environment Indicators shows at wp.org #11 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 15 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Widgets for Google Reviews places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 2667 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 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 #1 2 WPS Hide Login 2M+ · 4.8★ (2111) wp.org #2 3 WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 Hide My WP Ghost – Security & Firewall 100K+ · 4.5★ (373) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too high 5 WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too low 6 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too low 7 WP Encryption: Easy HTTPS / SSL & Free SSL certificate, HTTPS redirect 50K+ · 4.9★ (1146) wp.org #10 ↑3 3 too low 8 WP Store Locator 40K+ · 4.8★ (312) wp.org #9 ↑1 1 too low 9 WP Hide & Security Enhancer 50K+ · 4.3★ (275) wp.org #5 4 too high 10 WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346) wp.org #8 ↑1 2 too high 11 WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click 100K+ · 4.8★ (1138) wp.org #13 ↑2 2 too low 12 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #17 5 too low 13 WP Mail Logging 300K+ · 4.7★ (375) wp.org #19 ↑2 6 too low 14 BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) wp.org #14 15 WP Go Maps – Google Map, OpenStreetMap, Leaflet Map 300K+ · 4.8★ (3055) wp.org #23 ↓7 8 too low 16 WP-Members Membership Plugin 50K+ · 4.6★ (272) wp.org #21 5 too low 17 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #22 ↓3 5 too low 18 WP Umbrella: Security Backup Restore & Monitoring 90K+ · 4.8★ (81) wp.org #18 ↑2 19 Version Info – Server Health Monitor, PHP & MySQL Version Display, Environment Indicators 10K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #11 8 too high 20 Hide Posts 20K+ · 4.7★ (22) wp.org #12 8 too high 21 LWS Hide Login 20K+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #16 ↑2 5 too high 22 WP Hide Post — Hide Posts, Pages, Custom Post Types, and Control Products Visibility for WooCommerce 3K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #15 ↑2 7 too high 23 Hide Shipping Method For WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.0★ (25) wp.org #20 ↑2 3 too high 24 Hide/Remove Metadata 20K+ · 3.6★ (14) wp.org #24 ↓1

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.