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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “private user notes”

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 “private user notes”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 2 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

Product Notes Tab & Private Admin Notes for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #10 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 3221 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445) wp.org #1 2 User Switching 200K+ · 4.9★ (238) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor 40K+ · 4.7★ (738) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 User Registration & Membership – Free & Paid Memberships, Subscriptions, Content Restriction, User Profile, Custom User Registration & Login Builder 50K+ · 4.8★ (832) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 User Notes 800+ · 4.8★ (15) wp.org #2 3 too high 6 WP Dashboard Notes 20K+ · 4.6★ (110) wp.org #6 7 WP User Manager – Registration Form, Login Form, User Profile Builder & Member Directory 10K+ · 4.7★ (350) wp.org #7 8 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #18 ↓1 10 too low 9 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #15 ↓1 6 too low 10 New User Approve 20K+ · 4.3★ (131) wp.org #11 1 too low 11 Peter's Post Notes – Admin Notes for Posts and Pages 3K+ · 4.9★ (26) wp.org #8 3 too high 12 ProfileGrid – User Profiles, Groups and Communities 5K+ · 4.6★ (236) wp.org #12 ↑4 13 My Private Site – Make Your Whole Site Private, Force Login & Block Registration Spam 10K+ · 4.5★ (82) wp.org #9 ↑1 4 too high 14 WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1916) wp.org #21 ↓1 7 too low 15 RegistrationMagic – Custom Registration Forms, User Registration, Payment, and User Login 7K+ · 4.5★ (459) wp.org #22 ↓1 7 too low 16 Export and Import Users and Customers 50K+ · 4.8★ (442) wp.org #19 3 too low 17 bbPress 100K+ · 3.9★ (343) wp.org #23 ↓1 6 too low 18 KeepInMind Dashboard Notes 300+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #13 ↓1 5 too high 19 OpenStation – Admin Dashboard Notes, Custom Dashboard, AI Assistant & PWA 1K+ · 5.0★ (23) wp.org #24 ↓1 5 too low 20 Product Notes Tab & Private Admin Notes for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #10 ↓1 10 too high 21 Private Google Calendars 1K+ · 4.8★ (23) wp.org #20 ↓1 1 too high 22 Frontend User Notes 70+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #14 ↓1 8 too high 23 Private User Notes 100+ · 4.3★ (3) wp.org #17 ↑1 6 too high 24 Private Website – Login Required 300+ · 5.0★ (1) 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.