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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “automatic 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 “automatic menu”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Restaurant Menu and Food Ordering shows at wp.org #11 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.5★ average from 15 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Translate WordPress with GTranslate places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 4962 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882) wp.org #1 2 Menu Cart for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.6★ (99) wp.org #2 3 Table of Contents Plus – Automatic Table of Contents for Posts & Pages 200K+ · 4.5★ (187) wp.org #4 ↑2 1 too low 4 Iks Menu – WordPress Category Accordion Menu & FAQs 10K+ · 5.0★ (27) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #7 ↓2 2 too low 6 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #6 ↑1 7 Automatic YouTube Gallery – Embed Auto-Updating YouTube Video Galleries, Feeds, Playlists & Channels 9K+ · 4.8★ (31) wp.org #5 ↓1 2 too high 8 LocoAI – Auto Translate for Loco Translate 70K+ · 4.9★ (642) wp.org #14 6 too low 9 Advanced Sidebar Menu 10K+ · 4.5★ (37) wp.org #8 1 too high 10 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #23 13 too low 11 WP Menu Cart 8K+ · 4.8★ (23) wp.org #9 2 too high 12 Category Posts in Custom Menu 2K+ · 4.8★ (43) wp.org #12 13 Automatic Domain Changer 10K+ · 4.3★ (29) wp.org #10 3 too high 14 QuadMenu – Mega Menu 10K+ · 4.5★ (270) wp.org #21 ↓1 7 too low 15 Food Menu – Restaurant Menu & Online Ordering for WooCommerce 2K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #15 16 Catch Sticky Menu 2K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #13 3 too high 17 Offcanvas Mobile Menu 800+ · 4.9★ (18) wp.org #19 2 too low 18 Automatically Hierarchic Categories in Menu 2K+ · 4.6★ (13) wp.org #16 2 too high 19 Restaurant Menu and Food Ordering 2K+ · 4.5★ (15) wp.org #11 8 too high 20 Fullscreen Menu 1K+ · 4.7★ (14) wp.org #22 ↓8 2 too low 21 Groovy Menu Plugin (Free) 4K+ · 3.6★ (25) wp.org #20 ↑1 1 too high 22 Import Export Menu 3K+ · 4.4★ (10) wp.org #17 5 too high 23 Automatic Product Categories for WooCommerce 400+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Menu Visibility Control 700+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #18 6 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.