Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 menu colour”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

The Menu: Custom mobile navigation with icons shows at wp.org #10 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 400+ 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

Dark Mode – Improve Accessibility with AI Powered Dark Theme places #10 on merit, 4.5★ from 391 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. 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 #1 2 Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Responsive Menu – Mobile Menu & Hamburger Menu Builder 70K+ · 4.5★ (574) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 Admin Custom Login 10K+ · 4.6★ (388) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Simple Floating Menu 10K+ · 5.0★ (38) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 WP Custom Admin Interface 30K+ · 4.7★ (160) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 ECS – Ele Custom Skin for Elementor 100K+ · 4.6★ (117) wp.org #8 ↑2 1 too low 8 WP Store Locator 40K+ · 4.8★ (312) wp.org #15 ↓3 7 too low 9 Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (587) wp.org #17 8 too low 10 Dark Mode – Improve Accessibility with AI Powered Dark Theme 20K+ · 4.5★ (391) wp.org #19 ↑3 9 too low 11 Church Admin 900+ · 4.7★ (17) wp.org #9 2 too high 12 Options for Twenty Seventeen 8K+ · 4.8★ (57) wp.org #16 ↓1 4 too low 13 WP Server Health Stats 9K+ · 4.8★ (110) wp.org #21 ↓1 8 too low 14 WP-PostRatings 20K+ · 4.4★ (178) wp.org #23 ↑1 9 too low 15 Darkify – Dark Mode & Night Mode for Website & Admin (Dark Theme Included) 1K+ · 4.7★ (27) wp.org #14 1 too high 16 CiviCRM Admin Utilities 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #7 9 too high 17 Contact Form by Supsystic – Drag & Drop Form Builder with Templates & Form Statistics 6K+ · 4.7★ (92) wp.org #24 ↓1 7 too low 18 Simple Sitemap – Responsive HTML Sitemap for WordPress 60K+ · 3.9★ (72) wp.org #20 ↓1 2 too low 19 OpenStation – Admin Dashboard Notes, Custom Dashboard, AI Assistant & PWA 1K+ · 5.0★ (23) wp.org #18 ↑3 1 too high 20 Double Youpï Refined Admin Dashboard – Admin Theme with Dark Mode & Media Folders 70+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #12 8 too high 21 Admin Menu in Frontend 10+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #13 8 too high 22 Maestro: The Inline Admin Menu Editor 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 11 too high 23 The Menu: Custom mobile navigation with icons 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 ↓2 13 too high 24 DevDome Admin Cleaner: Remove Dashboard Widgets and Hide Menu Items 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓4 2 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.