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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “lock pdf”

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 pdf”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 19 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

PDF Password Protect shows at wp.org #2 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 200+ 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

Business Directory Plugin – Easy Listing & Member Directories for WordPress places #12 on merit, 4.6★ from 504 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 PDF Invoices & Packing Slips for WooCommerce 300K+ · 5.0★ (1865) wp.org #1 2 Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1526) wp.org #9 ↑1 7 too low 3 Media File Renamer: Rename Images & Files for SEO (AI-Powered) 40K+ · 4.6★ (447) wp.org #7 ↑2 4 too low 4 File Manager 1M+ · 4.6★ (1492) wp.org #8 ↓1 4 too low 5 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #11 ↓2 6 too low 6 Download Monitor 80K+ · 4.5★ (525) wp.org #10 ↓1 4 too low 7 Easy Digital Downloads – eCommerce Payments and Subscriptions made easy 40K+ · 4.7★ (592) wp.org #16 ↓1 9 too low 8 Flipbook PDF Viewer & Embedder 300+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #3 5 too high 9 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #19 10 too low 10 CopySafe PDF Protection – Copy Protect PDF 300+ · 3.9★ (14) wp.org #4 6 too high 11 Download Manager 90K+ · 4.1★ (1006) wp.org #21 ↓4 10 too low 12 Business Directory Plugin – Easy Listing & Member Directories for WordPress 10K+ · 4.6★ (504) wp.org #24 12 too low 13 FluentSnippets – High-Performance Code Snippets, Header & Footer Code, Custom CSS & PHP Code Manager 50K+ · 4.7★ (78) wp.org #20 ↓1 7 too low 14 MxChat – AI Chatbot & Content Generation for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (31) wp.org #17 ↓1 3 too low 15 FluentCart A New Era of eCommerce – Faster, Lighter, and Simpler 9K+ · 4.5★ (46) wp.org #23 8 too low 16 PDF Password Protect 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #2 14 too high 17 FluentAuth – Login Security, Two-Factor Authentication, Passkeys & Social Login 10K+ · 4.1★ (35) wp.org #22 ↑1 5 too low 18 TNC FlipBook 3D – PDF Flipbook, 3D Flipbook, PDF Viewer, PDF Embedder 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #5 ↑1 13 too high 19 Easy Invoice – Invoice Generator, PDF Quotes & Payments 600+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #13 ↓1 6 too high 20 Download PDF After Submit Form 400+ · 3.2★ (6) wp.org #6 ↓1 14 too high 21 eBook Crafter – Convert Posts to PDF eBooks, Ready to Print 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #18 3 too high 22 Document Engine – Document Library, PDF Viewer & Post to PDF 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 ↓1 7 too high 23 PDF Rack – 3D Flipbook, PDF Viewer & Embed PDF 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↑11 11 too high 24 FLUX PDF FLIP 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↓1 10 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.