wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “notify users”
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 “notify users”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 16 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
Post Notify Users shows at wp.org #1 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 100+ 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
Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 7519 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor 40K+ · 4.7★ (738)
wp.org #2 1 too low 2 
bbPress Notify (No-Spam) 2K+ · 4.8★ (40)
wp.org #3 1 too low 3 
User Registration & Membership – Free & Paid Memberships, Subscriptions, Content Restriction, User Profile, Custom User Registration & Login Builder 50K+ · 4.8★ (832)
wp.org #9 ↓1 6 too low 4 
User Frontend – Membership, User Registration, User Profile, User Directory & Content Restriction with Frontend Post Submission 20K+ · 4.1★ (537)
wp.org #7 ↑8 3 too low 5 
Fatal Error Notify 6K+ · 4.8★ (18) thin reviews
wp.org #4 1 too high 6 
Open User Map – Interactive Leaflet Maps 10K+ · 5.0★ (70)
wp.org #10 ↓1 4 too low 7 
All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231)
wp.org #15 ↓3 8 too low 8 
ProfileGrid – User Profiles, Groups and Communities 5K+ · 4.6★ (236)
wp.org #11 3 too low 9 
PublishPress Capabilities: User Role Access Control, Admin Area Permissions 90K+ · 4.7★ (143)
wp.org #12 ↓2 3 too low 10 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519)
wp.org #21 11 too low 11 
WP User Manager – Registration Form, Login Form, User Profile Builder & Member Directory 10K+ · 4.7★ (350)
wp.org #18 7 too low 12 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #16 4 too low 13 
XML Sitemap Generator for Google 1M+ · 4.8★ (2233)
wp.org #20 7 too low 14 
MASS Users Password Reset 500+ · 4.0★ (14) thin reviews
wp.org #5 9 too high 15 
Pingo Notify – Automation & Notification Chat Messages 300+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews
wp.org #6 9 too high 16 Post Notify Users 100+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #1 15 too high 17 
Noptin – Newsletter, New Post Notifications & Email Automation 10K+ · 4.5★ (120)
wp.org #24 ↓2 7 too low 18 
Disable User Login 6K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #8 ↓1 10 too high 19 
User Private Files – Secure File Sharing and Client Portal Plugin 1K+ · 4.4★ (57)
wp.org #22 3 too low 20 
Block User Account 1K+ · 4.3★ (7) thin reviews
wp.org #13 7 too high 21 
Easy Notify Lite 300+ · 3.3★ (18) thin reviews
wp.org #19 2 too high 22 
Notify Bot for WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #17 5 too high 23 
Admin Notify 40+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #14 9 too high 24 
Receive Notifications After Form Submitting – Form Notify for Any Forms 40+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #23 1 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.