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

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 “temporary”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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 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

Almost Ready Temporary Page shows at wp.org #6 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 40+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 1322 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

Temporary Login Without Password 90K+ · 5.0★ (1549) wp.org #1 2

UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #2 3

LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #3 4

Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220) wp.org #5 1 too low 5

Maintenance 1M+ · 4.4★ (869) wp.org #4 ↑5 1 too high 6

Migrate Guru – Site Migration & Cloning 200K+ · 4.9★ (1645) wp.org #9 ↓3 3 too low 7

Loginizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1033) not PHP-current wp.org #7 ↑1 8

WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #13 ↑1 5 too low 9

PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #18 ↑1 9 too low 10

Really Simple CAPTCHA 300K+ · 4.2★ (131) wp.org #10 ↑2 1 too high 12

Drag and Drop Multiple File Upload for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (94) wp.org #14 ↑1 2 too low 13

WPFront Scroll Top 200K+ · 4.9★ (142) wp.org #17 ↑1 4 too low 14

We’re Open! 5K+ · 5.0★ (45) wp.org #19 5 too low 15

Link Library 10K+ · 4.7★ (97) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #16 ↑1 1 too low 16

Controlled Admin Access 10K+ · 4.8★ (45) wp.org #23 ↓2 7 too low 17

Block Temporary Email 400+ · 4.5★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #12 ↑1 5 too high 18

All In One Login 60K+ · 3.6★ (35) wp.org #22 ↓18 4 too low 19

Temporary Login 30K+ · 4.2★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #11 ↓1 8 too high 20

Media Library Downloader 5K+ · 4.8★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #24 ↓2 4 too low 21

AyeCode Connect 10K+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #20 1 too high 22

Almost Ready Temporary Page 40+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #6 ↑1 16 too high 23

Reoon Email Verifier 600+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #21 ↓1 2 too high 24

Password Protect – Temporary Login Without Password & Password Protect Entire Site 100+ · 3.7★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #15 ↑1 9 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.