wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “user logging”
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 logging”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20. 5 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
ProfilePress – Paid Membership, Online Courses (LMS), Ecommerce, User Registration & Login Form, User Profile & Restrict Content shows at wp.org #12 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 100K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.1★ average from 938 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 5209 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
WP Mail Logging 300K+ · 4.7★ (375)
wp.org #1 2 
User Switching 200K+ · 4.9★ (238)
wp.org #2 3 
Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) heavy footprint
wp.org #3 ↑1 4 
User Registration & Membership – Free & Paid Memberships, Subscriptions, Content Restriction, User Profile, Custom User Registration & Login Builder 50K+ · 4.8★ (832)
wp.org #4 ↓1 5 
Stop User Enumeration 60K+ · 4.9★ (132)
wp.org #5 ↑1 6 
Mail logging & Catcher 20K+ · 4.9★ (108)
wp.org #6 ↓1 7 
Login as User: See the Site as Any User 30K+ · 4.8★ (41)
wp.org #7 8 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 #14 6 too low 9 
New User Approve 20K+ · 4.3★ (131)
wp.org #9 10 
User Frontend – Membership, User Registration, User Profile, User Directory & Content Restriction with Frontend Post Submission 20K+ · 4.1★ (537) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #8 ↑2 2 too high 11 
WP Activity Log 300K+ · 4.7★ (490)
wp.org #17 ↓6 6 too low 12 
Check & Log Email – Easy Email Testing & Mail logging 90K+ · 4.8★ (292) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #11 ↓3 1 too high 13 
Activity Log – Monitor User and Agent Changes 200K+ · 4.3★ (74)
wp.org #10 ↑5 3 too high 14 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #16 ↑1 2 too low 15 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #18 ↑1 3 too low 16 
Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) not PHP-current
wp.org #15 ↓2 1 too high 17 
User Admin Simplifier 10K+ · 5.0★ (31)
wp.org #13 ↓1 4 too high 18 
PublishPress Capabilities: User Role Access Control, Admin Area Permissions 90K+ · 4.7★ (143)
wp.org #20 ↓4 2 too low 19 
Redirection 2M+ · 4.4★ (703)
wp.org #22 ↓1 3 too low 20 ProfilePress – Paid Membership, Online Courses (LMS), Ecommerce, User Registration & Login Form, User Profile & Restrict Content 100K+ · 3.1★ (938) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #12 8 too high 21 
Solid Mail – SMTP email and logging made by SolidWP 60K+ · 4.2★ (52)
wp.org #24 ↓2 3 too low 22 
Hide Admin Bar Based on User Roles – Disable the WordPress Toolbar by Role or Capability 20K+ · 3.9★ (20) thin reviews
wp.org #21 1 too high 23 
User IP and Location 3K+ · 4.2★ (9) thin reviews
wp.org #23 ↓3 24 
Block User Account 1K+ · 4.3★ (7) throws errorsnot PHP-current 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.