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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “restrict 7”

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 “restrict 7”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 of the top 20.

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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Signature Field With Contact Form 7 shows at wp.org #12 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 300+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Quiz Maker by AYS places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 601 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 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #3 2 too low 2 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #6 ↑1 4 too low 3 R Restrict Usernames Emails Characters 1K+ · 4.5★ (25) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 MultiLine Files for Contact Form 7 9K+ · 4.9★ (49) wp.org #4 5 Advanced Datepicker – Restricts Date for Contact Form 7 500+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #1 4 too high 6 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 Loginizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1033) wp.org #14 ↑1 7 too low 8 GSheetConnector – CF7 Google Sheets Connector & Save CF7 Entries to Database 40K+ · 4.4★ (129) wp.org #11 3 too low 9 Quiz Maker by AYS 20K+ · 4.9★ (601) wp.org #21 12 too low 10 Autocomplete Location Field for Contact Form 7 1K+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #7 ↓1 3 too high 11 PublishPress Capabilities: User Role Access Control, Admin Area Permissions 90K+ · 4.7★ (143) wp.org #17 ↓1 6 too low 12 Visibility Logic for Elementor 20K+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #18 ↑3 6 too low 13 Simply Static – The Static Site Generator 30K+ · 4.5★ (195) wp.org #23 ↓1 10 too low 14 Date Picker For Contact Form 7 4K+ · 3.9★ (7) wp.org #5 9 too high 15 AntiSpam for Contact Form 7 10K+ · 4.2★ (13) wp.org #10 5 too high 16 R Restrict Products by Country & Country Catalogs for WooCommerce 200+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #13 3 too high 17 CF7 Views – Complete Entry Management for Contact Form 7 1K+ · 4.6★ (17) wp.org #20 ↓1 3 too low 18 Zoho Flow – No-Code Workflow Automation 5K+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 User Registration Using Contact Form 7 400+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #9 10 too high 20 Restrict Elementor Widgets, Columns and Sections 400+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #19 ↓2 1 too high 21 Affiliates Contact Form 7 Integration 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 ↓2 6 too high 22 Aims Textarea Wordcount with/without Space For Contact Form 7 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↓2 6 too high 23 Signature Field With Contact Form 7 300+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #12 11 too high 24 Country Dropdown For Contact Form 7 800+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 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.