wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “lock content”
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 “lock content”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 5 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
Lock Last Modified Date shows at wp.org #13 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 80+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Limit Login Attempts Security – Login Security, 2FA, Firewall, Brute Force Prevention places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 1488 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) not PHP-current
wp.org #2 ↓1 1 too low 2 
Passster – Password Protect Pages and Content 10K+ · 4.2★ (60) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #1 ↑1 1 too high 3 
Church Content – Sermons, Events and More 3K+ · 4.9★ (49)
wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too low 4 
Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281)
wp.org #10 6 too low 5 
MxChat – AI Chatbot & Content Generation for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (31) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #3 ↑1 2 too high 6 
Download Monitor 80K+ · 4.5★ (525)
wp.org #9 ↑2 3 too low 7 
Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1525)
wp.org #12 5 too low 8 
If-So Dynamic Content – Elementor & All Page Builders Personalization 7K+ · 4.7★ (92)
wp.org #6 2 too high 9 
Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) not PHP-current
wp.org #8 ↑1 1 too high 10 
Security Optimizer – The All-In-One Protection Plugin 1M+ · 4.5★ (157)
wp.org #11 ↓1 1 too low 11 
Restrict – membership, site, content and user access restrictions for WordPress 2K+ · 4.2★ (25)
wp.org #7 ↑1 4 too high 12 Limit Login Attempts Security – Login Security, 2FA, Firewall, Brute Force Prevention 1M+ · 4.8★ (1488)
wp.org #20 ↑1 8 too low 13 
All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720)
wp.org #23 ↓1 10 too low 14 
Age Gate Lite 2K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #5 ↑2 9 too high 15 
Password Protected 300K+ · 4.4★ (142)
wp.org #21 ↓18 6 too low 16 
Archive Content with Archived Post Status 5K+ · 4.9★ (36)
wp.org #19 ↑1 3 too low 17 
Content Blocks Builder – Create blocks, repeater blocks with carousel, grid, popup layouts 1K+ · 5.0★ (13) thin reviews
wp.org #15 2 too high 18 
Spectra Blocks – AI Website Builder for the Block Editor 60K+ · 4.6★ (53) heavy footprint
wp.org #22 ↓4 4 too low 19 
BotWriter – AI Writer & SEO Content Generator 1K+ · 4.4★ (16) thin reviews
wp.org #24 ↓1 5 too low 20 
Lock My Site 60+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #14 ↓1 6 too high 21 
Subscribe to Unlock Lite – Opt In Content Locker Plugin for WordPress 500+ · 3.9★ (10) thin reviews
wp.org #18 ↑1 3 too high 22 
SiteGuard WP Plugin 600K+ · 4.3★ (15) throws errorsnot PHP-currenthost-installed base thin reviews
wp.org #16 6 too high 23 
SureMembers – Membership & Content Restriction Plugin 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) not PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #17 6 too high 24 Lock Last Modified Date 80+ · 4.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #13 ↑1 11 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.