Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “role”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Role Based Pricing for Woo by Meow Crew shows at wp.org #10 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation places #9 on merit, 4.7★ from 1667 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 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor 40K+ · 4.7★ (738) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 User Role Editor 700K+ · 4.5★ (288) wp.org #2 ↓1 1 too high 4 Nav Menu Roles 70K+ · 4.9★ (219) wp.org #4 ↑3 5 PublishPress Capabilities: User Role Access Control, Admin Area Permissions 90K+ · 4.7★ (143) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too low 6 WPFront User Role Editor 30K+ · 4.5★ (65) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too high 7 Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445) wp.org #11 ↓1 4 too low 8 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #13 ↑1 5 too low 9 TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #21 ↓3 12 too low 10 EasyMedia – Increase Media Upload File Size | Role-Based Upload Limit | Increase Execution Time 70K+ · 4.9★ (99) wp.org #19 9 too low 11 Remove admin menus by role 8K+ · 4.4★ (14) wp.org #7 ↓1 4 too high 12 Product Visibility by User Role for WooCommerce 6K+ · 3.8★ (21) wp.org #8 ↑4 4 too high 13 M Multiple Roles 5K+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #12 ↓1 1 too high 14 User Role by BestWebSoft – Add and Customize Roles and Capabilities in WordPress 3K+ · 3.6★ (12) wp.org #9 ↓1 5 too high 15 Hide Admin Bar Based on User Roles – Disable the WordPress Toolbar by Role or Capability 20K+ · 3.9★ (20) wp.org #16 ↑1 1 too low 16 Admin Bar Editor – Toolbar Customization with User Role based access & Custom menus 3K+ · 4.4★ (24) wp.org #20 4 too low 17 ELEX WooCommerce Role Based Pricing 2K+ · 4.1★ (14) wp.org #15 2 too high 18 Membership & User Roles for WooCommerce (Automatic Role Changer) 400+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #18 ↑1 19 Role Based Pricing for Woo by Meow Crew 2K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #10 ↓1 9 too high 20 Payment Gateways by User Roles for WooCommerce 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #17 ↓1 3 too high 21 Product Prices by User Roles for WooCommerce 1K+ · 3.4★ (14) wp.org #14 ↓1 7 too high 22 Menu By User Roles 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #22 23 Hide Category by User Role for WooCommerce 300+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #23 ↓1 24 HM Multiple Roles 1K+ · 3.6★ (5) wp.org #24

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.