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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “admin bar customization”

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 “admin bar customization”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Remove WP Admin Bar shows at wp.org #7 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 100+ 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.

Buried gem

Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates places #7 on merit, 4.9★ from 1680 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Admin Menu Editor 300K+ · 4.6★ (312) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Admin Bar Editor – Toolbar Customization with User Role based access & Custom menus 3K+ · 4.4★ (24) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #3 4 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #4 5 My Sticky Bar – Floating Notification Bar & Sticky Header (formerly myStickymenu) 100K+ · 4.9★ (1199) wp.org #10 5 too low 6 Simple Admin Language Change 10K+ · 4.7★ (22) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #14 7 too low 8 EU Cookies Bar for WordPress 9K+ · 4.8★ (26) wp.org #6 2 too high 9 Controlled Admin Access 10K+ · 4.8★ (45) wp.org #9 10 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #16 ↑1 6 too low 11 Mobile Contact Bar 9K+ · 4.6★ (30) wp.org #8 3 too high 12 WP Custom Admin Interface 30K+ · 4.7★ (160) wp.org #13 1 too low 13 Menu Cart for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.6★ (99) wp.org #18 5 too low 14 HashBar – Announcement, Notification Bar & Popup Campaign 9K+ · 4.2★ (38) wp.org #12 2 too high 15 Easy Notification Bar 9K+ · 4.6★ (16) wp.org #11 4 too high 16 Adminify – White Label, Admin Menu Editor, Login Customizer 6K+ · 4.3★ (109) wp.org #22 6 too low 17 Simple Banner – Easily add multiple Banners/Bars/Notifications/Announcements to the top or bottom of your website 50K+ · 4.8★ (45) wp.org #24 7 too low 18 Announcer – Sticky Message Banner & Notification Bar 10K+ · 4.8★ (40) wp.org #23 5 too low 19 Admin Search 1K+ · 4.5★ (18) wp.org #17 ↓1 2 too high 20 Admin Help Docs 600+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 Catch Scroll Progress Bar 1K+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #15 6 too high 22 Remove WP Admin Bar 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 15 too high 23 YooBar – Notification Bar & Announcement Bar 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 3 too high 24 WBD Progress Bar For Gutenberg 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 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.