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

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 columns”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

Slug Search and Admin Columns shows at wp.org #7 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 200+ 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

Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 418 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Admin Columns 100K+ · 4.9★ (1653) wp.org #1 2 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (424) wp.org #2 3 Admin Menu Editor 300K+ · 4.6★ (312) wp.org #6 3 too low 4 Admin Slug Column 5K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Admin Columns for ACF Fields 9K+ · 4.9★ (20) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 F Featured Image Admin Thumb 20K+ · 4.7★ (40) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 Equal Height Columns 10K+ · 4.9★ (41) wp.org #10 3 too low 8 Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418) wp.org #18 10 too low 9 WPC Admin Columns 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #3 6 too high 10 View Admin As 9K+ · 4.9★ (49) wp.org #17 7 too low 11 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Google Sheets Sync, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (49) wp.org #12 ↓3 1 too low 12 Show modified Date in admin lists 6K+ · 4.9★ (32) wp.org #15 3 too low 13 Adminify – White Label, Admin Menu Editor, Login Customizer 6K+ · 4.3★ (109) wp.org #19 ↓6 6 too low 14 Add Featured Image Column 3K+ · 4.9★ (13) wp.org #13 1 too high 15 Frontend Admin by DynamiApps 8K+ · 4.5★ (159) wp.org #22 ↓2 7 too low 16 N Ni WooCommerce Admin Order Columns 500+ · 4.8★ (6) wp.org #9 ↑2 7 too high 17 Church Admin 900+ · 4.7★ (17) wp.org #24 ↓2 7 too low 18 Multiple Columns for Gravity Forms 10K+ · 4.5★ (30) wp.org #20 ↓2 2 too low 19 Admin Management Xtended 5K+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #21 ↓2 2 too low 20 Users Registration Date – Sortable Users Column 3K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #16 4 too high 21 Make Section & Column Clickable For Elementor 10K+ · 4.8★ (11) wp.org #23 ↓2 2 too low 22 Manage User Columns 1K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #11 ↑1 11 too high 23 Dashboard Columns 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 9 too high 24 Slug Search and Admin Columns 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 17 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.