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

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 editor”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

Melapress Role Editor shows at wp.org #9 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 100+ 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

Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) places #12 on merit, 5.0★ from 423 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. 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 Admin Menu Editor 300K+ · 4.6★ (312) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Checkout Field Editor (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce 400K+ · 4.9★ (1056) wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too low 6 WPFront User Role Editor 30K+ · 4.5★ (65) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #6 ↑3 1 too high 8 PublishPress Capabilities: User Role Access Control, Admin Area Permissions 90K+ · 4.7★ (143) wp.org #8 ↓1 9 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #14 ↑2 5 too low 10 Nav Menu Roles 70K+ · 4.9★ (219) wp.org #13 ↑8 3 too low 11 Theme Editor 50K+ · 4.6★ (128) wp.org #12 ↓2 1 too low 12 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #22 ↓3 10 too low 13 WP Editor 20K+ · 4.5★ (95) wp.org #16 ↓2 3 too low 14 Checkout Field Editor for WooCommerce – Checkout Manager 20K+ · 4.9★ (165) wp.org #23 ↓5 9 too low 15 WP 2FA – Two-factor authentication for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (184) wp.org #24 9 too low 16 Otter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder for Gutenberg Editor & FSE 300K+ · 4.7★ (251) wp.org #21 ↓6 5 too low 17 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #18 1 too low 18 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #17 1 too high 19 User Role by BestWebSoft – Add and Customize Roles and Capabilities in WordPress 3K+ · 3.6★ (12) wp.org #10 ↑2 9 too high 20 Admin Bar Editor – Toolbar Customization with User Role based access & Custom menus 3K+ · 4.4★ (24) wp.org #20 21 Classic Editor and Classic Widgets 20K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #15 ↓2 6 too high 22 Snow Monkey Editor 30K+ · 4.0★ (5) wp.org #11 11 too high 23 Melapress Role Editor 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #9 ↓1 14 too high 24 RoleMaster Suite – User Role Editor for E-Commerce, Membership & Admin Panel 700+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #19 ↓2 5 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.