wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “user meta data”
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 meta data”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20.
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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.
Ranked above its merit
View User Metadata shows at wp.org #15 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 1K+ 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.
Meta Box – A Framework for Dynamic Websites 500K+ · 4.8★ (165)
wp.org #1 2 
Import and export users and customers 70K+ · 4.7★ (259)
wp.org #3 1 too low 3 
Head Meta Data 10K+ · 4.8★ (19) thin reviews
wp.org #2 1 too high 4 
Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281)
wp.org #6 ↑1 2 too low 5 
Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821)
wp.org #7 ↑4 2 too low 6 
User Switching 200K+ · 4.9★ (238)
wp.org #5 1 too high 7 
User Role Editor 700K+ · 4.5★ (288)
wp.org #4 3 too high 8 
Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445)
wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too low 9 
Schema & Structured Data for WP & AMP 100K+ · 4.5★ (252)
wp.org #8 ↓2 1 too high 10 
WP User Manager – Registration Form, Login Form, User Profile Builder & Member Directory 10K+ · 4.7★ (350)
wp.org #13 ↓1 3 too low 11 
User Frontend – Membership, User Registration, User Profile, User Directory & Content Restriction with Frontend Post Submission 20K+ · 4.1★ (537)
wp.org #12 ↑4 1 too low 12 
Meta Tag Manager 70K+ · 4.8★ (84)
wp.org #10 ↓1 2 too high 13 
Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962)
wp.org #18 ↓5 5 too low 14 
User Submitted Posts – Enable Users to Submit Posts from the Front End 10K+ · 4.8★ (913)
wp.org #20 ↓5 6 too low 15 
Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519)
wp.org #22 ↓1 7 too low 16 
Meta Field Block – Display Custom Fields for ACF, Meta Box and More 10K+ · 5.0★ (57)
wp.org #14 ↑3 2 too high 17 W WP Meta and Date Remover 80K+ · 4.2★ (71)
wp.org #11 ↓1 6 too high 18 
New User Approve 20K+ · 4.3★ (131)
wp.org #17 ↑5 1 too high 19 
One User Avatar | User Profile Picture 100K+ · 4.7★ (41)
wp.org #16 ↓2 3 too high 20 
ProfilePress – Paid Membership, Online Courses (LMS), Ecommerce, User Registration & Login Form, User Profile & Restrict Content 100K+ · 3.1★ (938)
wp.org #23 ↓3 3 too low 21 
Post Meta Data Manager 1K+ · 5.0★ (15) thin reviews
wp.org #21 ↓3 22 
Export Users Data CSV 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #19 3 too high 23 View User Metadata 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #15 ↑8 8 too high 24 
Kliken: Ads + Pixel for Meta 30K+ · 3.0★ (1) 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.