wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “how to hide wp update message”
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 “how to hide wp update message”, we agree with wp.org 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
Hide Update WP Message shows at wp.org #13 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 40+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
How this rank is calculated
Each plugin's merit score multiplies these inputs together: how recently it was updated, how current its "tested up to" WordPress version is, its install base (log scale, capped at 10 million), its support thread resolution rate, and a rating score. The rating score weights the star average by review volume against a sitewide prior, then scales it by the lower bound of the share of 4 and 5 star reviews. A plugin with 3.7 stars from tens of thousands of reviews can still outscore a 4.9 with a few dozen, because the small sample carries less certainty.
A health factor between 0.4 and 1.15 then adjusts that score for what wp.org's search can't see: PHP fatals or failed activations on a test install, PHP and WordPress compatibility, memory and page-speed footprint, suspicious review patterns, closure risk, and a large install base with very few reviews. Clean, adopted plugins earn a small lift.
A keyword ranking starts from wp.org's search order for the term, weighting each position by 1 divided by its place, then applies the merit correction and health factor above. Relevance to the keyword stays in the result, so the order can differ from the all-categories list on /best, which scores plugins with no search term.
Hover a row to see the main reason for its position.
WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5,211)
wp.org #1 2 
Hide My WP Ghost – Security & Firewall 100K+ · 4.5★ (373)
wp.org #2 3 
WP Hide & Security Enhancer 50K+ · 4.3★ (275)
wp.org #3 4 
WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2,617)
wp.org #5 ↑1 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 5 
WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1,346)
wp.org #4 ↑1 wp.org ranks it 1 place above merit 6 
WP Store Locator 40K+ · 4.8★ (312)
wp.org #6 ↑1 7 
All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1,720)
wp.org #7 ↑9 8 
Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots 10K+ · 4.8★ (142)
wp.org #9 ↑4 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 9 
WP Rollback – Rollback Plugins and Themes 200K+ · 4.9★ (215)
wp.org #10 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 10 
Easy Updates Manager 300K+ · 4.8★ (726)
wp.org #12 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 2 places below merit 11 
WP Umbrella: Security Backup Restore & Monitoring 90K+ · 4.8★ (81)
wp.org #8 ↑2 wp.org ranks it 3 places above merit 12 
WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click 100K+ · 4.8★ (1,139)
wp.org #14 wp.org ranks it 2 places below merit 13 
BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1,323)
wp.org #11 ↓3 wp.org ranks it 2 places above merit 14 
WP Mail Logging 300K+ · 4.7★ (375)
wp.org #15 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 15 
Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612)
wp.org #16 ↑3 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 16 
Kadence Security – Password, Two Factor Authentication, and Brute Force Protection 700K+ · 4.6★ (3,992)
wp.org #20 wp.org ranks it 4 places below merit 17 
Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (617)
wp.org #21 ↓3 wp.org ranks it 4 places below merit 18 
WP Chat App 100K+ · 4.9★ (222)
wp.org #19 ↓2 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 19 
WP Table Builder – Drag & Drop Table Builder 50K+ · 4.8★ (681)
wp.org #24 ↓4 wp.org ranks it 5 places below merit 20 
WP-Members Membership Plugin 50K+ · 4.6★ (272)
wp.org #22 wp.org ranks it 2 places below merit 21 
Easy WP SMTP – WordPress SMTP and Email Logs: Gmail SMTP, Office 365, Outlook, Custom SMTP, and more 500K+ · 4.6★ (709)
wp.org #23 ↓2 wp.org ranks it 2 places below merit 22 
Social Media Auto Poster – Schedule & Publish to Buffer 7K+ · 4.5★ (125)
wp.org #18 ↓6 wp.org ranks it 4 places above merit 23 
WP Updates Notifier 20K+ · 4.2★ (35)
wp.org #17 wp.org ranks it 6 places above merit 24 H Hide Update WP Message 40+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews
wp.org #13 ↓4 wp.org ranks it 11 places above merit Merit ranking caps the install boost at 10M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted 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.