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

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 “administration menu”, 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Kit (formerly ConvertKit) for WPForms shows at wp.org #8 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

My Sticky Bar – Floating Notification Bar & Sticky Header (formerly myStickymenu) places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 1199 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Admin Menu Tree Page View 10K+ · 4.6★ (48) wp.org #1 2

QuadMenu – Mega Menu 10K+ · 4.5★ (270) wp.org #2 3

WP 2FA – Two-factor authentication for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (184) wp.org #4 1 too low 4

Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #6 2 too low 5

Navigation menu as Dropdown Widget 2K+ · 5.0★ (10) thin reviews wp.org #3 2 too high 6

WP Activity Log 300K+ · 4.7★ (490) wp.org #10 4 too low 7

Advanced Custom Fields: Extended 100K+ · 4.8★ (132) wp.org #9 2 too low 8

Genesis Simple Sidebars 10K+ · 4.4★ (27) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 A Adminimize 100K+ · 4.7★ (254) wp.org #11 2 too low 10

Polylang 900K+ · 4.7★ (3004) wp.org #13 3 too low 11

My Sticky Bar – Floating Notification Bar & Sticky Header (formerly myStickymenu) 100K+ · 4.9★ (1199) wp.org #22 11 too low 12

All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #17 5 too low 13

Kit (formerly ConvertKit) – Email Newsletter, Email Marketing, Membership, Subscribers and Landing Pages 40K+ · 4.8★ (90) wp.org #15 2 too low 14

Price Based on Country for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.8★ (262) wp.org #24 10 too low 15

WPMasterToolKit (WPMTK) – All in one plugin 5K+ · 5.0★ (28) wp.org #12 3 too high 16

FV Flowplayer Video Player 10K+ · 4.4★ (90) wp.org #20 4 too low 17

Remove Dashboard Access 30K+ · 4.6★ (78) wp.org #21 4 too low 18

Advanced iFrame 40K+ · 4.4★ (54) wp.org #18 19

Widget Context 30K+ · 4.5★ (98) wp.org #23 4 too low 20

Kit (formerly ConvertKit) for WooCommerce 4K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #7 13 too high 21

Code Embed 10K+ · 4.4★ (45) wp.org #19 2 too high 22

SEO SIMPLE PACK 100K+ · 4.6★ (14) thin reviews wp.org #14 8 too high 23

Kit (formerly ConvertKit) for WPForms 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #8 15 too high 24

Clear All Cache for WP Super Cache 6K+ · 3.1★ (11) thin reviews wp.org #16 8 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.