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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “protect uploads”

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 “protect uploads”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

Protect Login shows at wp.org #6 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 700+ 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

Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) places #8 on merit, 4.9★ from 8869 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 Big File Uploads – Increase Maximum File Upload Size 100K+ · 4.9★ (402) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Protect Uploads 30K+ · 4.8★ (12) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 PPWP – Password Protect Pages 30K+ · 4.7★ (271) wp.org #3 4 Email Encoder – Protect Email Addresses and Phone Numbers 90K+ · 4.9★ (94) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too low 5 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #11 ↓1 6 too low 6 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #10 ↑2 4 too low 7 Infinite Uploads – Offload, Optimize & Organize Your Media Library 800+ · 4.4★ (20) wp.org #4 3 too high 8 Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869) wp.org #17 9 too low 9 Auto Upload Images 20K+ · 4.3★ (106) wp.org #9 ↓1 10 Protect the Children! 1K+ · 4.9★ (15) wp.org #7 ↑9 3 too high 11 Prevent Direct Access – Protect WordPress Files 10K+ · 4.6★ (297) wp.org #18 ↓3 7 too low 12 Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) wp.org #13 ↓8 1 too low 13 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #23 ↓4 10 too low 14 Iptanus File Upload 10K+ · 4.4★ (117) wp.org #20 ↑1 6 too low 15 BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) wp.org #21 ↑2 6 too low 16 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #24 ↓4 8 too low 17 File Uploads Addon for WooCommerce 4K+ · 3.7★ (27) wp.org #12 ↓3 5 too high 18 Protect Admin 2K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #8 ↑3 10 too high 19 Protect WP Admin 10K+ · 3.6★ (50) wp.org #19 ↓6 20 Passster – Password Protect Pages and Content 10K+ · 4.2★ (60) wp.org #15 ↓11 5 too high 21 Protect Login 700+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #6 ↑1 15 too high 22 AI Scrape Protect 400+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #14 8 too high 23 Simple Password Protect 500+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 7 too high 24 PDF Password Protect 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 ↓4 2 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.