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

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 copy”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

Live Copy Paste for Elementor – Cross Domain Copy Paste & Page Duplicator 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 4.3★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery places #10 on merit, 4.7★ from 616 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 WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click 100K+ · 4.8★ (1138) wp.org #1 2 Prevent Direct Access – Protect WordPress Files 10K+ · 4.6★ (297) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 Duplicate Post 300K+ · 4.9★ (1623) wp.org #6 ↓3 3 too low 4 Prevent Browser Caching 10K+ · 4.9★ (29) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too high 5 Disable Right Click RB – Content Copy Protection, Prevent Copy & No Right Click 600+ · 4.2★ (14) wp.org #2 3 too high 6 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #11 ↑5 5 too low 7 Secure Copy Content Protection and Content Locking 20K+ · 4.3★ (62) wp.org #5 2 too high 8 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #13 ↑1 5 too low 9 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #8 ↑2 1 too high 10 Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #21 11 too low 11 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #14 ↓1 3 too low 12 File Manager 1M+ · 4.6★ (1492) wp.org #22 ↑1 10 too low 13 Redirection 2M+ · 4.4★ (703) wp.org #18 ↑3 5 too low 14 Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) wp.org #24 ↓2 10 too low 15 Copy Move Posts 400+ · 4.8★ (10) wp.org #9 ↓2 6 too high 16 CopySafe PDF Protection – Copy Protect PDF 300+ · 3.9★ (14) wp.org #12 4 too high 17 CopySafe Web Protection – Copy Protect Images 800+ · 4.1★ (12) wp.org #10 ↓2 7 too high 18 CopyProof Website 300+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #17 ↑2 1 too high 19 Simple Content Copy Protection & No Right Click 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #15 4 too high 20 Live Copy Paste for Elementor – Cross Domain Copy Paste & Page Duplicator 6K+ · 4.3★ (3) wp.org #7 ↓1 13 too high 21 Sticky Copy Button for Code Blocks 50+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #19 ↓1 2 too high 22 Do Not Copy 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 2 too high 23 Email No Bot – Prevent bots from detecting emails 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 24 WPC Copy Billing Address for WooCommerce 200+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #16 ↑1 8 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.