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

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 notes”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Admin Page Notes shows at wp.org #10 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 700+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 9 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Admin Custom Login places #7 on merit, 4.6★ from 388 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Peter's Post Notes – Admin Notes for Posts and Pages 3K+ · 4.9★ (26) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 Print Invoice & Delivery Notes for WooCommerce 30K+ · 4.4★ (140) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 Admin Menu Editor 300K+ · 4.6★ (312) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 WP Dashboard Notes 20K+ · 4.6★ (110) wp.org #5 ↑4 1 too low 5 Plugin Notes Plus 9K+ · 5.0★ (62) wp.org #8 ↓1 3 too low 6 Change Admin Email 40K+ · 4.8★ (141) wp.org #13 ↑3 7 too low 7 Admin Custom Login 10K+ · 4.6★ (388) wp.org #16 ↓4 9 too low 8 User Notes 800+ · 4.8★ (15) wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too high 9 View Admin As 9K+ · 4.9★ (49) wp.org #12 ↓1 3 too low 10 Product Notes Tab & Private Admin Notes for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #3 7 too high 11 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #11 12 Sticky Notes for WP Dashboard 1K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #6 ↓1 6 too high 13 User Admin Simplifier 10K+ · 5.0★ (31) wp.org #15 ↓1 2 too low 14 Admin Menu Tree Page View 10K+ · 4.6★ (48) wp.org #17 ↑1 3 too low 15 Admin Notices Manager 10K+ · 4.9★ (21) wp.org #14 ↓1 1 too high 16 KeepInMind Dashboard Notes 300+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #9 ↓1 7 too high 17 WP Custom Admin Interface 30K+ · 4.7★ (160) wp.org #18 ↓3 1 too low 18 WebToffee WooCommerce PDF Invoices, Packing Slips, Delivery Notes & Shipping Labels 50K+ · 4.9★ (285) wp.org #22 ↓2 4 too low 19 Admin Page Notes 700+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #10 9 too high 20 OpenStation – Admin Dashboard Notes, Custom Dashboard, AI Assistant & PWA 1K+ · 5.0★ (23) wp.org #20 21 D Dashboard Notes 500+ · 4.7★ (19) wp.org #21 ↓4 22 Admin Management Xtended 5K+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #24 ↓2 2 too low 23 CiviCRM Admin Utilities 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #23 24 WPC Admin Columns 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #19 5 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.