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

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 branding”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

Custom Branding for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #13 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 500+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 14387 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 PublishPress Capabilities: User Role Access Control, Admin Area Permissions 90K+ · 4.7★ (143) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3 Branda – White Label & Branding, Free Login Page Customizer 10K+ · 4.5★ (30) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too high 4 Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 ThirstyAffiliates – Affiliate Links, Link Branding, Link Tracking & Marketing Plugin 30K+ · 4.6★ (251) wp.org #9 ↑1 4 too low 6 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #15 ↑1 9 too low 7 PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #17 ↓2 10 too low 8 White Label CMS 200K+ · 4.7★ (114) wp.org #11 ↑1 3 too low 9 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #16 ↑2 7 too low 10 White Label – WordPress Custom Admin, Custom Login Page, and Custom Dashboard 10K+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #8 ↑1 2 too high 11 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #22 ↓1 11 too low 12 Hide Admin Bar Based on User Roles – Disable the WordPress Toolbar by Role or Capability 20K+ · 3.9★ (20) wp.org #5 ↑2 7 too high 13 Default Admin Color Scheme 800+ · 4.7★ (9) wp.org #4 ↑1 9 too high 14 WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (195) wp.org #18 ↑1 4 too low 15 Teydea Login Customizer – Custom Login Page, Branding & Styling 10K+ · 4.8★ (14) wp.org #7 ↑1 8 too high 16 Adminify – White Label, Admin Menu Editor, Login Customizer 6K+ · 4.3★ (109) wp.org #14 ↑3 2 too high 17 Admin Page Spider 1K+ · 4.8★ (22) wp.org #10 ↑1 7 too high 18 EmbedPress 100K+ · 4.8★ (307) wp.org #21 ↑1 3 too low 19 Presto Player 100K+ · 4.8★ (346) wp.org #23 4 too low 20 Loginizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1033) wp.org #20 21 Change WordPress Admin Logo 400+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #12 ↑1 9 too high 22 Better Admin Bar 3K+ · 4.8★ (19) wp.org #19 ↑1 3 too high 23 Print Invoice & Delivery Notes for WooCommerce 30K+ · 4.4★ (140) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Custom Branding for WooCommerce 500+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #13 ↑1 11 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.