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

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 page”, 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

Almost Ready Temporary Page shows at wp.org #2 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 20 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

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 27821 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

WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #4 2 too low 3

Maintenance 1M+ · 4.4★ (869) wp.org #3 4

UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #5 1 too low 5

LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #6 1 too low 6

Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #8 2 too low 7

Migrate Guru – Site Migration & Cloning 200K+ · 4.9★ (1645) wp.org #12 5 too low 8

Nested Pages 90K+ · 4.7★ (126) wp.org #7 1 too high 9

Asset CleanUp: Page Speed Booster 100K+ · 4.9★ (1564) not PHP-current wp.org #11 2 too low 10

Hummingbird Performance – Cache & Page Speed Optimization for Core Web Vitals | Critical CSS | Minify CSS | Defer CSS Javascript | CDN 70K+ · 4.7★ (1488) wp.org #16 6 too low 11

Loginizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1033) not PHP-current wp.org #9 2 too high 12

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #20 8 too low 13

PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #19 6 too low 14

Content Views – Post Grid & Filter (Shortcode, Blocks, Elementor Widgets) 100K+ · 4.8★ (333) heavy footprint wp.org #13 1 too high 15

If-So Dynamic Content – Elementor & All Page Builders Personalization 7K+ · 4.7★ (92) wp.org #15 16

WPFront Scroll Top 200K+ · 4.9★ (142) wp.org #22 6 too low 17

Redirect 404 Error Page to Homepage or Custom Page with Logs 10K+ · 5.0★ (45) wp.org #17 18

WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346) wp.org #23 4 too low 20

Simple Page Redirect 10K+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #10 10 too high 21

Link Library 10K+ · 4.7★ (97) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #21 22

Almost Ready Temporary Page 40+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #2 20 too high 23

WPEPP – Essential Security, Password Protect & Login Page Customizer 3K+ · 4.1★ (19) thin reviews wp.org #18 5 too high 24

Password Protect – Temporary Login Without Password & Password Protect Entire Site 100+ · 3.7★ (3) thin reviews 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.