wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “restricted”

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 “restricted”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 3 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

Restricted Site Notifier shows at wp.org #3 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 70+ 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

Customer Reviews for WooCommerce places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 1539 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 signals wp.org

Restricted Site Access 10K+ · 4.8★ (62) wp.org #1 2

WP-Members Membership Plugin 50K+ · 4.6★ (272) wp.org #6 ↑5 4 too low 3

Force Login 30K+ · 4.8★ (101) wp.org #5 ↑2 2 too low 4

Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #8 ↓3 4 too low 5

Access Governance for WordPress (aka AAM) 100K+ · 4.2★ (420) wp.org #9 ↓1 4 too low 6

Restrict – membership, site, content and user access restrictions for WordPress 2K+ · 4.2★ (25) wp.org #4 2 too high 7

Products Restricted Users for WooCommerce 400+ · 4.3★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #2 ↑1 5 too high 8

Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539) wp.org #18 ↓2 10 too low 9

Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots 10K+ · 4.8★ (142) wp.org #12 ↓2 3 too low 10

Password Protected 300K+ · 4.4★ (142) wp.org #10 ↑2 11

Import and export users and customers 70K+ · 4.7★ (259) wp.org #15 ↓2 4 too low 12

Controlled Admin Access 10K+ · 4.8★ (45) wp.org #11 ↓2 1 too high 13

Groups – Memberships and Access Control 10K+ · 4.8★ (382) wp.org #21 ↓2 8 too low 14

Disable All WordPress Updates 20K+ · 4.8★ (69) wp.org #14 ↑8 15

Age Gate 40K+ · 4.6★ (64) wp.org #20 ↑1 4 too low 17

My Private Site – Make Your Whole Site Private, Force Login & Block Registration Spam 10K+ · 4.5★ (82) not PHP-current wp.org #16 ↓1 1 too high 18

Country Based Restrictions for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.5★ (52) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #13 ↑1 5 too high 19

Restricted Site Notifier 70+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #3 ↓1 16 too high 20

Mailgun for WordPress 80K+ · 3.8★ (49) wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too high 21

Log Emails 6K+ · 5.0★ (11) thin reviews wp.org #24 3 too low 22

Anonymous Restricted Content 900+ · 4.3★ (9) thin reviews wp.org #23 ↓6 1 too low 23

Restricted content based on purchase 30+ · 5.0★ (2) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #7 ↓1 16 too high 24

Conditional Payments and Shipping for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #22 ↓2 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.