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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “password locker”

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 “password locker”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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

Smartpoints Lockers for ACS shows at wp.org #2 but places #9 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 20+ 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

PublishPress Capabilities: User Role Access Control, Admin Area Permissions places #3 on merit, 4.7★ from 143 reviews, but shows at wp.org #12. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #1 2 Secure Copy Content Protection and Content Locking 20K+ · 4.3★ (62) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 PublishPress Capabilities: User Role Access Control, Admin Area Permissions 90K+ · 4.7★ (143) wp.org #12 9 too low 4 Invoicing with InvoiceXpress for WooCommerce – Free 100+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #9 5 too low 5 Shop as Client for WooCommerce – Manual, Phone & Email Orders 500+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 SamedayCourier Shipping 4K+ · 2.7★ (14) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 ELEX WooCommerce USPS Shipping Method 800+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #7 8 TimeSaverBot – Multilingual AI Chatbot for WooCommerce & Live Chat 100+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #19 11 too low 9 Smartpoints Lockers for ACS 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #2 7 too high 10 GLS Shipping for WooCommerce 2K+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #5 5 too high 11 Speedy And Econt Shipping 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #6 5 too high 12 Digital Content Delivery (incl. DRM) by Flickrocket for WooCommerce 50+ · 2.6★ (10) wp.org #21 9 too low 13 Content Locker for Elementor 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 2 too high 14 BulCommerce 30+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #23 ↑1 9 too low 15 GEL Proximity | Aggregatore Punti di Ritiro e Locker 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 5 too high 16 Locker Content — Content Locking & Engagement Gates — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 3 too high 17 Simpler Checkout 50+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 5 too low 18 Woot 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 4 too high 19 Form Locker for Elementor Forms — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 4 too high 20 Lawyer Locker — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 4 too high 21 Ultimate Addons for Elementor Forms 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 1 too high 22 Friendly Content Unlocker (Lite) — Micro-Paywall, Pay Per Post & Content Locker for PayPal — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 5 too high 23 OTP Content Protect 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 5 too high 24 Copyfend – Content Protection, Anti-Copy & Anti-Scraping 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓1

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.