wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “website sections hide”
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 “website sections hide”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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
Hide Cart Functions shows at wp.org #12 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.6★ average from 14 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 3221 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
WPS Hide Login 2M+ · 4.8★ (2111)
wp.org #1 2 
Hide My WP Ghost – Security & Firewall 100K+ · 4.5★ (373)
wp.org #2 ↑1 3 
WP Hide & Security Enhancer 50K+ · 4.3★ (275)
wp.org #3 ↑1 4 
MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157)
wp.org #5 1 too low 5 
Starter Templates: AI-Powered Website Templates for Elementor & Gutenberg 1M+ · 4.9★ (4755)
wp.org #6 1 too low 6 
ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051)
wp.org #7 1 too low 7 
Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132)
wp.org #8 1 too low 8 
Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode 600K+ · 4.9★ (4699)
wp.org #10 2 too low 9 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221)
wp.org #13 ↓1 4 too low 10 
Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680)
wp.org #14 ↓1 4 too low 11 
Website LLMs.txt 50K+ · 4.7★ (12) thin reviews
wp.org #4 ↓2 7 too high 12 
Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333)
wp.org #11 ↑3 1 too high 13 
Kirki – Freeform Page Builder, Website Builder & Customizer 400K+ · 4.5★ (81)
wp.org #9 4 too high 14 
Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612)
wp.org #17 ↓2 3 too low 15 
Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528)
wp.org #22 ↓2 7 too low 16 
Visual Composer Website Builder 30K+ · 4.6★ (220)
wp.org #20 ↓1 4 too low 17 
Modular DS: Monitor, update, and backup multiple websites 40K+ · 5.0★ (133)
wp.org #23 ↓1 6 too low 18 
Page Builder: Pagelayer – Drag and Drop website builder 400K+ · 3.9★ (104)
wp.org #15 ↑1 3 too high 19 
Nexter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder & AI Website Builder 9K+ · 4.8★ (90)
wp.org #21 2 too low 20 
FastPixel Cache – Optimize Page Speed: Compress Images, Minify, Clean Database & CDN 4K+ · 4.8★ (50)
wp.org #18 2 too high 21 Hide Cart Functions 3K+ · 4.6★ (14) thin reviews
wp.org #12 ↓1 9 too high 22 
Easy Hide Admin Menu Items 1K+ · 5.0★ (14) thin reviews
wp.org #24 ↓3 2 too low 23 
Hide Price Until Login 1K+ · 3.5★ (24) thin reviews
wp.org #16 ↑1 7 too high 24 
Section Collection – Add Ready-made Sections to Design Modern Websites 400+ · 5.0★ (1) 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.