Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 editor”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 of the top 20. 3 plugins are 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

WPC Admin Columns shows at wp.org #5 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy places #8 on merit, 5.0★ from 4625 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #1 2 Admin Menu Editor 300K+ · 4.6★ (312) wp.org #2 3 User Role Editor 700K+ · 4.5★ (288) wp.org #3 4 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too low 7 Advanced Editor Tools 1M+ · 4.5★ (354) wp.org #8 ↓1 1 too low 8 TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625) wp.org #17 ↓2 9 too low 9 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #10 ↑1 1 too low 10 User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor 40K+ · 4.7★ (738) wp.org #18 ↑2 8 too low 11 BEAR – Bulk Editor for WooCommerce Professional. AI assistant on board (MCP Server) 30K+ · 4.7★ (228) wp.org #9 2 too high 12 Adminify – White Label, Admin Menu Editor, Login Customizer 6K+ · 4.3★ (109) wp.org #12 13 WPFront User Role Editor 30K+ · 4.5★ (65) wp.org #14 1 too low 14 View Admin As 9K+ · 4.9★ (49) wp.org #15 ↑2 1 too low 15 Otter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder for Gutenberg Editor & FSE 300K+ · 4.7★ (251) wp.org #19 ↑2 4 too low 16 F Featured Image Admin Thumb 20K+ · 4.7★ (40) wp.org #16 ↑2 17 WPC Admin Columns 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #5 12 too high 18 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #24 ↓5 6 too low 19 Better Block Editor (BBE) 6K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #11 ↓1 8 too high 20 Spectra Blocks – AI Website Builder for the Block Editor 60K+ · 4.6★ (53) wp.org #21 ↓5 1 too low 21 WOLF – WordPress Posts Bulk Editor and Manager Professional 4K+ · 4.7★ (27) wp.org #20 ↑2 1 too high 22 Make Section & Column Clickable For Elementor 10K+ · 4.8★ (11) wp.org #22 ↑1 23 FrontEdit – Live Frontend Block Editor 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 ↑1 24 Slug Search and Admin Columns 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 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.