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

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 menus”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 2 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

Simplify Admin Menus shows at wp.org #8 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 80+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 2051 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. 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 User Menus – Nav Menu Visibility 80K+ · 5.0★ (1281) wp.org #5 3 too low 3 Admin Menu Editor 300K+ · 4.6★ (312) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 C Conditional Menus 60K+ · 4.4★ (71) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Remove admin menus by role 8K+ · 4.4★ (14) wp.org #2 3 too high 6 Shortcode in Menus 50K+ · 4.7★ (82) wp.org #6 7 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #11 4 too low 8 User Admin Simplifier 10K+ · 5.0★ (31) wp.org #9 ↑1 1 too low 9 PublishPress Capabilities: User Role Access Control, Admin Area Permissions 90K+ · 4.7★ (143) wp.org #13 4 too low 10 Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882) wp.org #20 ↑1 10 too low 11 Admin Bar Editor – Toolbar Customization with User Role based access & Custom menus 3K+ · 4.4★ (24) wp.org #7 4 too high 12 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #24 12 too low 13 Simple Page Ordering 100K+ · 4.7★ (131) wp.org #21 ↓1 8 too low 14 WP Custom Admin Interface 30K+ · 4.7★ (160) wp.org #14 15 Buttonizer – Floating Menus, Sticky Buttons, & Popup Builder 70K+ · 4.5★ (151) wp.org #17 2 too low 16 Admin Menu Search 3K+ · 4.9★ (14) wp.org #15 1 too high 17 Hide Drafts in Menus 1K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #12 5 too high 18 Off-Canvas Sidebars & Menus (Slidebars) 1K+ · 4.8★ (38) wp.org #23 5 too low 19 Slash Admin 500+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #18 1 too high 20 Admin Search 1K+ · 4.5★ (18) wp.org #16 4 too high 21 Admin Options Pages 500+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #19 2 too high 22 Simplify Admin Menus 80+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 14 too high 23 Admin Menus Fixed 100+ · 4.3★ (3) wp.org #10 ↓1 13 too high 24 WP Admin Audit 1K+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #22 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.