wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “avada 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 “avada menu”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20. 5 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

RSS Includes Pages shows at wp.org #15 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.9★ average from 17 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin signals wp.org

QuadMenu – Mega Menu 10K+ · 4.5★ (270) wp.org #3 ↑1 2 too low 2

Groovy Menu Plugin (Free) 4K+ · 3.6★ (25) wp.org #1 1 too high 3

Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #5 2 too low 4

Ivory Search – WordPress Search Plugin 90K+ · 4.9★ (1562) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #4 ↓1 5

Site Reviews 60K+ · 4.9★ (376) wp.org #6 1 too low 6

SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267) wp.org #7 1 too low 7

WPB Accordion Menu – Collapsible Vertical Sidebar Responsive Mobile Menu – WooCommerce Category Accordion 10K+ · 4.4★ (54) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #2 5 too high 8

All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #8 9

Media Cleaner: Delete Unused Images & Clean Your Media Library 90K+ · 4.6★ (779) wp.org #11 2 too low 10

FileBird – WordPress Media Library Folders & File Manager 200K+ · 4.7★ (1125) wp.org #13 ↑5 3 too low 11

Use Any Font | Custom Font Uploader 200K+ · 4.7★ (1148) wp.org #14 ↑1 3 too low 12

ShiftNav – Responsive Mobile Menu 10K+ · 4.6★ (68) wp.org #10 2 too high 13

Disable and Remove Google Fonts | GDPR & DSGVO friendly 100K+ · 4.5★ (46) heavy footprint wp.org #9 4 too high 14

Variation Swatches for WooCommerce – Color, Image & Size Swatches 200K+ · 4.6★ (51) wp.org #12 2 too high 15

Dark Mode – Improve Accessibility with AI Powered Dark Theme 20K+ · 4.5★ (391) wp.org #23 8 too low 16

hCaptcha for WP 70K+ · 4.6★ (88) wp.org #18 ↓4 2 too low 17

WPGlobus 8K+ · 4.5★ (228) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #16 ↑1 1 too high 18

SideMenu 900+ · 4.8★ (25) wp.org #19 1 too low 19

Darkify – Dark Mode & Night Mode for Website & Admin (Dark Theme Included) 1K+ · 4.7★ (27) wp.org #21 2 too low 20

GSheetConnector – CF7 Google Sheets Connector & Save CF7 Entries to Database 40K+ · 4.4★ (129) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #22 ↑2 2 too low 21

RSS Includes Pages 10K+ · 3.9★ (17) thin reviews wp.org #15 ↓2 6 too high 22

Broken Link Checker by AIOSEO – Find & Fix Broken Internal, External & Video Links 200K+ · 3.8★ (87) not PHP-current wp.org #24 ↓3 2 too low 23

SysBasics Customize My Account for WooCommerce – Live My Account Customizer 7K+ · 4.2★ (33) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #17 ↓1 6 too high 24

SilentShield – Captcha & Anti-Spam for WordPress (CF7, WPForms, Elementor, WooCommerce) 10K+ · 4.7★ (24) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #20 ↑3 4 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.