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← Rankings

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

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

Advanced Datepicker – Restricts Date for WPForms shows at wp.org #14 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 300+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 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 #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 8869 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Admin Menu Editor 300K+ · 4.6★ (312) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 PublishPress Capabilities: User Role Access Control, Admin Area Permissions 90K+ · 4.7★ (143) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3 Restrict User Access – Ultimate Membership & Content Protection 10K+ · 4.3★ (94) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too low 4 Admin Custom Login 10K+ · 4.6★ (388) wp.org #9 ↑1 5 too low 5 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #6 ↑2 1 too low 6 Restrict for Elementor 900+ · 4.0★ (9) wp.org #2 ↑1 4 too high 7 Controlled Admin Access 10K+ · 4.8★ (45) wp.org #7 8 R Restrict Usernames Emails Characters 1K+ · 4.5★ (25) wp.org #5 ↑1 3 too high 9 View Admin As 9K+ · 4.9★ (49) wp.org #8 ↑1 1 too high 10 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #21 ↑3 11 too low 11 Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869) wp.org #24 13 too low 12 User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor 40K+ · 4.7★ (738) wp.org #22 10 too low 13 Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction 10K+ · 4.7★ (270) wp.org #19 ↑1 6 too low 14 Page Restrict for WooCommerce 700+ · 4.7★ (23) wp.org #10 ↑1 4 too high 15 All In One Login 60K+ · 3.6★ (35) wp.org #11 ↑4 4 too high 16 Membership Plugin – Kadence Memberships 8K+ · 3.1★ (100) wp.org #12 4 too high 17 Restrict – membership, site, content and user access restrictions for WordPress 2K+ · 4.2★ (25) wp.org #16 ↑1 1 too high 18 Protect WP Admin 10K+ · 3.6★ (50) wp.org #20 ↑1 2 too low 19 Slash Admin 500+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #23 4 too low 20 Advanced Datepicker – Restricts Date for Contact Form 7 500+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #13 7 too high 21 Restrict WP Upload Type 300+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #17 ↑1 4 too high 22 Admin login URL Change 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #18 ↑1 4 too high 23 Restrict Website Access 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #15 ↑1 8 too high 24 Advanced Datepicker – Restricts Date for WPForms 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 10 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.