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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “injections”

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 “injections”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Host Header Injection Fix shows at wp.org #5 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 400+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Defender Security – Malware Scanner, Login Security & Firewall places #6 on merit, 4.8★ from 334 reviews, but shows at wp.org #12. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #1 2 Head, Footer and Post Injections 200K+ · 4.9★ (735) wp.org #2 3 Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Anti-Malware Security and Brute-Force Firewall 100K+ · 4.9★ (783) wp.org #8 4 too low 5 Header Footer Code Manager 600K+ · 4.9★ (309) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Defender Security – Malware Scanner, Login Security & Firewall 80K+ · 4.8★ (334) wp.org #12 6 too low 7 Hide My WP Ghost – Security & Firewall 100K+ · 4.5★ (373) wp.org #11 4 too low 8 Headers Security Advanced & HSTS WP 90K+ · 4.8★ (80) wp.org #10 2 too low 9 AntiVirus 30K+ · 4.1★ (23) wp.org #6 3 too high 10 MalCare WordPress Security Plugin – Malware Scanner, Cleaner, Security Firewall 100K+ · 4.4★ (559) wp.org #16 6 too low 11 Injection Guard 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #3 8 too high 12 BBQ Firewall – Fast & Powerful Firewall Security 100K+ · 4.9★ (160) wp.org #17 5 too low 13 FluentSnippets – High-Performance Code Snippets, Header & Footer Code, Custom CSS & PHP Code Manager 50K+ · 4.7★ (78) wp.org #13 14 Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #9 5 too high 15 OG — Better Share on Social Media 20K+ · 4.8★ (216) wp.org #22 7 too low 16 AdRotate Banner Manager 20K+ · 4.3★ (655) wp.org #15 1 too high 17 Host Header Injection Fix 400+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #5 12 too high 18 WP fail2ban – Advanced Security 60K+ · 4.2★ (71) wp.org #14 4 too high 19 Security Ninja – WordPress Security & Firewall 7K+ · 4.7★ (101) wp.org #24 5 too low 20 Melapress File Monitor 5K+ · 4.1★ (32) wp.org #23 3 too low 21 RSFirewall! 4K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #20 1 too high 22 Virusdie | One-click website security 2K+ · 4.0★ (9) wp.org #19 3 too high 23 Export Customers Data 500+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #21 2 too high 24 Compromise Scanner for wp2shell 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 6 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.