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

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 “theft”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Selective Image Guard | A deterrent for unauthorized downloads and scraping shows at wp.org #14 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 100+ 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

Gallery by Visual Portfolio places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 340 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 No Right Click Images 20K+ · 4.7★ (52) wp.org #1 2 Secure Copy Content Protection and Content Locking 20K+ · 4.3★ (62) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Shield Security – Smart Bot Blocking, Brute-Force Login Protection & File Scanning 30K+ · 4.8★ (1039) wp.org #8 5 too low 4 WP Content Copy Protection with Color Design 5K+ · 4.5★ (25) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too high 5 WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click 100K+ · 4.8★ (1138) wp.org #10 ↑1 5 too low 6 picu – Online Photo Proofing Gallery 2K+ · 4.7★ (55) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too high 7 Prevent Direct Access – Protect WordPress Files 10K+ · 4.6★ (297) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 NinjaFirewall (WP Edition) – Advanced Security Plugin and Firewall 100K+ · 4.9★ (220) wp.org #6 2 too high 9 Disable Right Click RB – Content Copy Protection, Prevent Copy & No Right Click 600+ · 4.2★ (14) wp.org #4 ↑15 5 too high 10 Gallery by Visual Portfolio 60K+ · 4.8★ (340) wp.org #17 ↓2 7 too low 11 TrustedSite 10K+ · 4.2★ (26) wp.org #7 ↓2 4 too high 12 ThumbPress – Compress Images, Manage Thumbnails, Detect Image Issues, WebP/AVIF, Lazy Loading, Hotlinking & More 20K+ · 3.7★ (117) wp.org #15 ↓1 3 too low 13 Route ‑ Shipping Protection 500+ · 4.3★ (24) wp.org #13 ↓1 14 CopyProof Website 300+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #12 ↓2 2 too high 15 ARCaptcha – Puzzle Captcha | New-generation Captcha and bot protection 300+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #11 ↓4 4 too high 16 Right Click Ban – Disable Right Click & Content Copy Protection 400+ · 4.3★ (7) wp.org #18 2 too low 17 Simple Content Copy Protection & No Right Click 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #16 1 too high 18 Bot Traffic Shield – Block Bad Bots and Stop AI Bots Crawlers 800+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 eDarpan: Website Protection 200+ · 3.8★ (5) wp.org #19 ↑1 20 WoowGallery 1K+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #22 ↑1 2 too low 21 Selective Image Guard | A deterrent for unauthorized downloads and scraping 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↓1 7 too high 22 CorvusPay WooCommerce Payment Gateway 1K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 CopyBlocker Pro – Content Protection 80+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 ↑1 2 too high 24 JavaScript Obfuscator 60+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #20 ↑1 4 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.