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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “add menu”

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 “add menu”, 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 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

Ollie Menu Designer shows at wp.org #13 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 6K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 8 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Ivory Search – WordPress Search Plugin places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 1562 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Menu Icons by Themeisle – Add Icons to Navigation Menus 100K+ · 4.9★ (851) wp.org #1 2 Admin Menu Editor 300K+ · 4.6★ (312) wp.org #2 3 Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 Nav Menu Roles 70K+ · 4.9★ (219) wp.org #4 ↑5 5 Responsive Menu – Mobile Menu & Hamburger Menu Builder 70K+ · 4.5★ (574) wp.org #5 ↓2 6 Sticky Menu & Sticky Header 90K+ · 4.7★ (763) wp.org #6 ↓1 7 WP Mobile Menu – The Mobile-Friendly Responsive Menu 70K+ · 4.7★ (256) wp.org #7 8 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #9 ↑2 1 too low 9 WP Responsive Menu 30K+ · 4.3★ (100) wp.org #8 1 too high 10 WP Menu Icons 20K+ · 4.9★ (139) wp.org #12 ↑1 2 too low 11 Ivory Search – WordPress Search Plugin 90K+ · 4.9★ (1562) wp.org #15 ↓9 4 too low 12 Float menu – awesome floating side menu 30K+ · 4.4★ (41) wp.org #10 2 too high 13 Menu Cart for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.6★ (99) wp.org #16 3 too low 14 Login or Logout Menu Item 20K+ · 4.8★ (23) wp.org #11 ↑1 3 too high 15 Simple Floating Menu 10K+ · 5.0★ (38) wp.org #19 4 too low 16 Iks Menu – WordPress Category Accordion Menu & FAQs 10K+ · 5.0★ (27) wp.org #18 2 too low 17 WP Bottom Menu 20K+ · 4.5★ (23) wp.org #14 ↑1 3 too high 18 Admin Menu Tree Page View 10K+ · 4.6★ (48) wp.org #22 4 too low 19 Advanced Sidebar Menu 10K+ · 4.5★ (37) wp.org #23 4 too low 20 M Menu Duplicator 10K+ · 4.7★ (13) wp.org #17 3 too high 21 Ollie Menu Designer 6K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #13 ↑1 8 too high 22 WP Menu Cart 8K+ · 4.8★ (23) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 Fixed Bottom Menu 4K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #20 3 too high 24 Add menu separators to navigation 900+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #21 3 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.