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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “prevent”

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 “prevent”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Disable Right Click RB – Content Copy Protection, Prevent Copy & No Right Click shows at wp.org #11 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 600+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 14 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 1916 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 Prevent Browser Caching 10K+ · 4.9★ (29) wp.org #1 2 Prevent Direct Access – Protect WordPress Files 10K+ · 4.6★ (297) wp.org #2 3 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #7 3 too low 5 Limit Login Attempts Security – Login Security, 2FA, Firewall, Brute Force Prevention 1M+ · 4.8★ (1489) wp.org #5 ↓2 6 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #8 ↓2 2 too low 7 Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869) wp.org #10 ↑3 3 too low 8 Prevent Files / Folders Access 1K+ · 4.6★ (35) wp.org #4 ↑1 4 too high 9 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #6 3 too high 10 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #12 2 too low 11 Security Optimizer – The All-In-One Protection Plugin 1M+ · 4.5★ (157) wp.org #9 ↑8 2 too high 12 WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1916) wp.org #17 ↓2 5 too low 13 Loginizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1033) wp.org #13 ↓4 14 Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #20 6 too low 15 Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #22 7 too low 16 Akismet Anti-spam: Spam Protection 5M+ · 4.7★ (1187) wp.org #23 ↓4 7 too low 17 Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) wp.org #18 ↓4 1 too low 18 Disable Right Click RB – Content Copy Protection, Prevent Copy & No Right Click 600+ · 4.2★ (14) wp.org #11 7 too high 19 Prevent XSS Vulnerability 6K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #14 ↓6 5 too high 20 WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237) wp.org #19 ↓3 1 too high 21 Fraud Prevention For WooCommerce and EDD 4K+ · 3.7★ (23) wp.org #16 ↓6 5 too high 22 Duplicate Killer – Prevent Duplicate Form Submissions 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #15 ↓4 7 too high 23 SiteGuard WP Plugin 600K+ · 4.3★ (15) wp.org #21 ↓3 2 too high 24 Basic Security: Prevent Cross Site Scripting 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24 ↓2

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.