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

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 login”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

Temporary Login shows at wp.org #6 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 30K+ 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

SAML Single Sign On – SSO Login places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 402 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. 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

Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #8 5 too low 4

Admin Custom Login 10K+ · 4.6★ (388) wp.org #7 ↓1 3 too low 5

All In One Login 60K+ · 3.6★ (35) wp.org #3 ↓1 2 too high 6

UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8708) wp.org #12 ↓2 5 too low 8

Melapress Login Security 3K+ · 4.8★ (20) thin reviews wp.org #4 4 too high 9

Loginizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1033) not PHP-current wp.org #10 ↑3 1 too low 10

LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #16 ↓2 6 too low 11

SAML Single Sign On – SSO Login 10K+ · 4.9★ (402) wp.org #20 ↓2 9 too low 12

Maintenance 1M+ · 4.4★ (869) wp.org #15 3 too low 13

Social Login, Social Sharing by miniOrange 10K+ · 4.6★ (356) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #13 ↓1 14

Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) thin reviews wp.org #11 3 too high 15

Hide My WP Ghost – Security & Firewall 100K+ · 4.5★ (373) wp.org #22 7 too low 16

AJAX Login and Registration modal popup + inline form 3K+ · 4.7★ (120) wp.org #21 5 too low 17

Login Me Now – Passwordless, Magic Link, OTP & Social Login for WordPress 600+ · 5.0★ (9) thin reviews wp.org #9 8 too high 18 I IP Based Login 500+ · 4.9★ (23) thin reviews wp.org #18 ↑1 19

Temporary Login 30K+ · 4.2★ (5) thin reviewsstale but ranked wp.org #6 ↓1 13 too high 20

WPOrLogin – Custom Login, Social Login, CAPTCHA & Security 2K+ · 4.8★ (32) wp.org #23 3 too low 21

Passwordless Login 1K+ · 5.0★ (10) thin reviews wp.org #17 4 too high 22

Password Protect – Temporary Login Without Password & Password Protect Entire Site 100+ · 3.7★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #14 ↑2 8 too high 23

Bifröst – Instant Passwordless Temporary Login Links 30+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #24 ↓2 1 too low 24

Almost Ready Temporary Page 40+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #19 ↑1 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.