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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “post 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 “post lock”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Missed Schedule Post Publisher shows at wp.org #7 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 6K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 1281 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #1 2 Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1525) wp.org #2 ↑3 3 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 Revive Social – Social Media Auto Post and Scheduling Automation Plugin 20K+ · 4.0★ (556) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Archive Content with Archived Post Status 5K+ · 4.9★ (36) wp.org #5 6 Category AJAX Filter – Posts, Custom Post Types & Product Filter 6K+ · 4.9★ (158) wp.org #9 ↑1 3 too low 7 Download Monitor 80K+ · 4.5★ (525) wp.org #12 ↓4 5 too low 8 Security Optimizer – The All-In-One Protection Plugin 1M+ · 4.5★ (157) wp.org #8 ↑1 9 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #17 8 too low 10 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #13 ↑2 3 too low 11 Post Lockdown 1K+ · 4.6★ (9) wp.org #3 ↑1 8 too high 12 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #18 ↓1 6 too low 13 Media File Renamer: Rename Images & Files for SEO (AI-Powered) 40K+ · 4.6★ (447) wp.org #22 ↑2 9 too low 14 Password Protected 300K+ · 4.4★ (142) wp.org #16 ↓14 2 too low 15 Pay For Post with WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.7★ (53) wp.org #10 ↑2 5 too high 16 Bulk Edit Posts and Products in Spreadsheet 7K+ · 4.8★ (217) wp.org #24 ↓1 8 too low 17 Spectra Blocks – AI Website Builder for the Block Editor 60K+ · 4.6★ (53) wp.org #21 ↓8 4 too low 18 Seraphinite Post .DOCX Source 800+ · 4.6★ (45) wp.org #20 ↓1 2 too low 19 Hide Posts 20K+ · 4.7★ (22) wp.org #19 ↓1 20 Missed Schedule Post Publisher 6K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #7 13 too high 21 Lock My Site 60+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #14 7 too high 22 F4 Post Tree 600+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #23 ↓2 1 too low 23 Lock Last Modified Date 80+ · 4.0★ (1) wp.org #11 12 too high 24 Quick Copy – Duplicate Posts & Pages 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 ↑1 9 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.