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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “user behavior”

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 “user behavior”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 4 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

Expire User Passwords shows at wp.org #12 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 3K+ 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

Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security places #12 on merit, 4.7★ from 5038 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Smart User Slug Hider 2K+ · 4.9★ (55) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Opti-Behavior – Self-Hosted Heatmaps, Funnels, A/B Testing & Smart Insights 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Login as User: See the Site as Any User 30K+ · 4.8★ (41) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 User Access Manager 10K+ · 4.4★ (112) wp.org #4 ↓1 5 User Submitted Posts – Enable Users to Submit Posts from the Front End 10K+ · 4.8★ (913) wp.org #8 ↓2 3 too low 6 Import and export users and customers 70K+ · 4.7★ (259) wp.org #6 ↑1 7 Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder 600K+ · 4.9★ (4514) wp.org #11 ↓3 4 too low 8 WP User Avatars 20K+ · 4.5★ (29) wp.org #5 ↓1 3 too high 9 User Admin Simplifier 10K+ · 5.0★ (31) wp.org #7 ↓2 2 too high 10 ProfileGrid – User Profiles, Groups and Communities 5K+ · 4.6★ (236) wp.org #9 ↑1 1 too high 11 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #17 ↓2 6 too low 12 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5038) wp.org #19 ↓3 7 too low 13 Depicter — Popup & Slider Builder 70K+ · 4.6★ (235) wp.org #13 ↑1 14 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #24 ↓7 10 too low 15 User Login History 10K+ · 4.6★ (29) wp.org #10 ↓1 5 too high 16 Restrict User Access – Ultimate Membership & Content Protection 10K+ · 4.3★ (94) wp.org #14 ↓3 2 too high 17 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #23 ↓1 6 too low 18 Beehive Analytics – Google Analytics Dashboard 20K+ · 4.5★ (13) wp.org #16 ↓3 2 too high 19 Metricool – Social media and site statistics 90K+ · 4.4★ (22) wp.org #22 ↑1 3 too low 20 Idle User Logout 1K+ · 4.1★ (18) wp.org #15 ↓3 5 too high 21 WP User Merger 300+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #18 ↑2 3 too high 22 Microsoft Clarity 200K+ · 4.5★ (14) wp.org #21 ↓2 1 too high 23 Expire User Passwords 3K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #12 ↑9 11 too high 24 WP User Profile Restriction 500+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #20 ↓2 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.