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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “backend 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 “backend menu”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

Posts to PDF – Backend Batch Export shows at wp.org #6 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 14387 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 SlickNav Mobile Menu 3K+ · 4.8★ (24) wp.org #1 2 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #4 ↑1 2 too low 3 QuadMenu – Mega Menu 10K+ · 4.5★ (270) wp.org #5 ↓1 2 too low 4 Backend Payments for WooCommerce 800+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 Orbit Fox: Duplicate Page, Menu Icons, SVG Support, Cookie Notice, Custom Fonts & More 100K+ · 4.8★ (317) wp.org #9 4 too low 6 Groovy Menu Plugin (Free) 4K+ · 3.6★ (25) wp.org #3 3 too high 7 Adminify – White Label, Admin Menu Editor, Login Customizer 6K+ · 4.3★ (109) wp.org #7 8 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #11 ↓3 3 too low 9 Redis Object Cache 500K+ · 4.5★ (179) wp.org #8 ↑2 1 too high 10 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #18 8 too low 11 A Adminimize 100K+ · 4.7★ (254) wp.org #14 3 too low 12 FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995) wp.org #20 ↑2 8 too low 13 Custom Taxonomy Order 50K+ · 4.8★ (96) wp.org #13 14 WPCafe – Restaurant Menu, Online Food Ordering & Table Booking System 5K+ · 4.6★ (113) wp.org #12 2 too high 15 File Manager 1M+ · 4.6★ (1492) wp.org #17 2 too low 16 Advanced File Manager – Ultimate File Manager for WordPress And Document Library Solution 100K+ · 4.8★ (442) wp.org #24 8 too low 17 WP Custom Admin Interface 30K+ · 4.7★ (160) wp.org #21 4 too low 18 WP Event Manager – Events Calendar, Registrations, Sell Tickets with WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.0★ (249) wp.org #22 4 too low 19 Simple Admin Language Change 10K+ · 4.7★ (22) wp.org #16 3 too high 20 Admin Bar Editor – Toolbar Customization with User Role based access & Custom menus 3K+ · 4.4★ (24) wp.org #15 5 too high 21 Missing Menu Items 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #10 ↑1 11 too high 22 Posts to PDF – Backend Batch Export 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 16 too high 23 GDPR Tools: comment ip removement 2K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #23 ↑1 24 Easy Backend-Style – Custom WordPress admin and dashboard design 200+ · 5.0★ (1) 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.