Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “page lock”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 3 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

Quick Copy – Duplicate Posts & Pages shows at wp.org #8 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 1K+ 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

Media File Renamer: Rename Images & Files for SEO (AI-Powered) places #9 on merit, 4.6★ from 447 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1525) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 Page Builder by SiteOrigin 400K+ · 4.8★ (1005) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #3 ↓2 4 Kirki – Freeform Page Builder, Website Builder & Customizer 400K+ · 4.5★ (81) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Download Monitor 80K+ · 4.5★ (525) wp.org #10 ↑4 5 too low 6 Limit Login Attempts Security – Login Security, 2FA, Firewall, Brute Force Prevention 1M+ · 4.8★ (1488) wp.org #12 ↓1 6 too low 7 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #18 11 too low 8 Security Optimizer – The All-In-One Protection Plugin 1M+ · 4.5★ (157) wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too low 9 Media File Renamer: Rename Images & Files for SEO (AI-Powered) 40K+ · 4.6★ (447) wp.org #21 12 too low 10 Passster – Password Protect Pages and Content 10K+ · 4.2★ (60) wp.org #6 ↓2 4 too high 11 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #20 9 too low 12 Radio Player Page 300+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #4 ↑2 8 too high 13 Fullwidth Templates for Any Theme & Page Builder 20K+ · 4.7★ (42) wp.org #15 ↑2 2 too low 14 Spectra Blocks – AI Website Builder for the Block Editor 60K+ · 4.6★ (53) wp.org #17 ↓1 3 too low 15 If-So Dynamic Content – Elementor & All Page Builders Personalization 7K+ · 4.7★ (92) wp.org #24 9 too low 16 Login Lockdown & Protection 100K+ · 4.3★ (61) wp.org #22 6 too low 17 Page Restrict for WooCommerce 700+ · 4.7★ (23) wp.org #11 ↓1 6 too high 18 WPEPP – Essential Security, Password Protect & Login Page Customizer 3K+ · 4.1★ (19) wp.org #16 ↑2 2 too high 19 Lock My Site 60+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #13 6 too high 20 HTML Page Publisher 500+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #7 ↑2 13 too high 21 Post Lockdown 1K+ · 4.6★ (9) wp.org #23 ↑1 2 too low 22 SiteGuard WP Plugin 600K+ · 4.3★ (15) wp.org #14 ↑1 8 too high 23 Quick Copy – Duplicate Posts & Pages 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 ↓1 15 too high 24 H Hidden Password Protected Pages 600+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 5 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.