wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “multisite user”
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 “multisite user”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 5 of the top 20. 4 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
ProfilePress – Paid Membership, Online Courses (LMS), Ecommerce, User Registration & Login Form, User Profile & Restrict Content shows at wp.org #16 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 100K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.1★ average from 938 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
User Switching 200K+ · 4.9★ (238)
wp.org #1 2 
User Role Editor 700K+ · 4.5★ (288)
wp.org #2 3 
Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281)
wp.org #4 1 too low 4 
Stop User Enumeration 60K+ · 4.9★ (132)
wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too low 5 
LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778)
wp.org #8 ↓1 3 too low 6 
Login as User: See the Site as Any User 30K+ · 4.8★ (41)
wp.org #6 ↑3 7 
WP Multisite User Sync/Unsync 600+ · 4.2★ (18) thin reviews
wp.org #3 4 too high 8 
User Frontend – Membership, User Registration, User Profile, User Directory & Content Restriction with Frontend Post Submission 20K+ · 4.1★ (537) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #7 ↑6 1 too high 9 
Multisite Language Switcher 3K+ · 4.8★ (99)
wp.org #11 ↓1 2 too low 10 
One User Avatar | User Profile Picture 100K+ · 4.7★ (41)
wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too high 11 
Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) not PHP-current
wp.org #10 ↓5 1 too high 12 
User Access Manager 10K+ · 4.4★ (112)
wp.org #12 ↓1 13 
Open User Map – Interactive Leaflet Maps 10K+ · 5.0★ (70)
wp.org #13 ↑1 14 
Import and export users and customers 70K+ · 4.7★ (259)
wp.org #18 4 too low 15 
WPFront User Role Editor 30K+ · 4.5★ (65)
wp.org #15 16 
Activity Log – Monitor User and Agent Changes 200K+ · 4.3★ (74)
wp.org #14 ↑10 2 too high 17 
Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #19 ↓2 2 too low 18 
ProfileGrid – User Profiles, Groups and Communities 5K+ · 4.6★ (236) not PHP-current
wp.org #24 6 too low 19 
User Admin Simplifier 10K+ · 5.0★ (31)
wp.org #21 ↓1 2 too low 20 
WP User Avatars 20K+ · 4.5★ (29)
wp.org #17 3 too high 21 ProfilePress – Paid Membership, Online Courses (LMS), Ecommerce, User Registration & Login Form, User Profile & Restrict Content 100K+ · 3.1★ (938) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #16 ↓5 5 too high 22 D Dropdown Multisite Selector 900+ · 5.0★ (19) thin reviews
wp.org #20 ↓1 2 too high 23 
User Posts Limit 3K+ · 5.0★ (13) thin reviews
wp.org #23 ↓1 24 
User Login History 10K+ · 4.6★ (29) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #22 ↓1 2 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.