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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “tls authentication”

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 “tls authentication”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 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

Fluistr Authentication shows at wp.org #11 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 10+ 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

Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App places #10 on merit, 4.7★ from 528 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Kadence Security – Password, Two Factor Authentication, and Brute Force Protection 700K+ · 4.6★ (3992) wp.org #1 2 FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Backup Migration 80K+ · 4.9★ (1338) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 SMTP Mailer 70K+ · 4.6★ (67) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too high 5 WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too low 6 Redis Object Cache 500K+ · 4.5★ (179) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 One Click SSL 10K+ · 4.9★ (139) wp.org #7 ↓1 8 WP SMTP Mailer – SMTP7 8K+ · 5.0★ (115) wp.org #8 9 Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes 300K+ · 4.9★ (491) wp.org #13 ↓1 4 too low 10 Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #16 ↓2 6 too low 11 Gmail SMTP 10K+ · 4.1★ (103) wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too high 12 Active Directory Integration / LDAP Integration 4K+ · 4.9★ (211) wp.org #17 5 too low 13 Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #12 ↑1 1 too high 14 Solid Mail – SMTP email and logging made by SolidWP 60K+ · 4.2★ (52) wp.org #15 ↑1 1 too low 15 Next Active Directory Integration 2K+ · 4.8★ (16) wp.org #14 ↑1 1 too high 16 Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #21 ↑1 5 too low 17 A authLdap 4K+ · 5.0★ (19) wp.org #19 2 too low 18 SmartSMTP 2K+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #9 ↑1 9 too high 19 Bit SMTP – Easy SMTP Solution with Email Logs 2K+ · 3.9★ (15) wp.org #20 1 too low 20 Mailster AmazonSES Integration 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #24 4 too low 21 Pinny’s Simple SMTP – Lightweight SMTP Mailer 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 ↑1 2 too low 22 Fluistr Authentication 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 11 too high 23 W WPMU Ldap Authentication 50+ · 4.3★ (3) wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too high 24 SMTP for Contact Form 7 1K+ · 4.0★ (2) wp.org #18 6 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.