wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “appearance 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 “appearance menu”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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
Ollie Menu Designer shows at wp.org #8 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 6K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 8 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
User Menus – Nav Menu Visibility places #9 on merit, 5.0★ from 1281 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.
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #1 2 
Menu Icons by Themeisle – Add Icons to Navigation Menus 100K+ · 4.9★ (851)
wp.org #2 3 
Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882)
wp.org #3 ↑1 4 
Admin Menu Editor 300K+ · 4.6★ (312)
wp.org #4 ↓1 5 
Nav Menu Roles 70K+ · 4.9★ (219)
wp.org #5 6 
WP Menu Icons 20K+ · 4.9★ (139)
wp.org #10 4 too low 7 
Iks Menu – WordPress Category Accordion Menu & FAQs 10K+ · 5.0★ (27)
wp.org #7 8 
Admin Menu Search 3K+ · 4.9★ (14) thin reviews
wp.org #6 2 too high 9 User Menus – Nav Menu Visibility 80K+ · 5.0★ (1281)
wp.org #24 15 too low 10 
Login or Logout Menu Item 20K+ · 4.8★ (23) thin reviews
wp.org #9 1 too high 11 
Simple Floating Menu 10K+ · 5.0★ (38)
wp.org #13 2 too low 12 
User Role Editor 700K+ · 4.5★ (288)
wp.org #17 ↑2 5 too low 13 
Advanced Sidebar Menu 10K+ · 4.5★ (37)
wp.org #12 1 too high 14 
WP Bottom Menu 20K+ · 4.5★ (23) thin reviews
wp.org #11 3 too high 15 Ollie Menu Designer 6K+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews
wp.org #8 7 too high 16 
Category Posts in Custom Menu 2K+ · 4.8★ (43)
wp.org #21 5 too low 17 
Menu In Post 2K+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews
wp.org #14 3 too high 18 
WPB Accordion Menu – Collapsible Vertical Sidebar Responsive Mobile Menu – WooCommerce Category Accordion 10K+ · 4.4★ (54) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #19 ↑1 1 too low 19 
Fullscreen Menu 2K+ · 4.7★ (14) thin reviews
wp.org #20 ↓4 1 too low 20 
Side Menu Lite – Sticky Floating Side Menu 7K+ · 4.0★ (12) thin reviews
wp.org #15 5 too high 21 
Groovy Menu Plugin (Free) 4K+ · 3.6★ (25)
wp.org #22 1 too low 22 M Menu Item Duplicator 2K+ · 3.8★ (13) thin reviews
wp.org #18 4 too high 23 
Menu Visibility Control 700+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #16 ↑1 7 too high 24 
Menu Backup & Restore + Import/Export 500+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #23 1 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.