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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “bars”

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 “bars”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 5 of the top 20. 2 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

Progress Bars shows at wp.org #7 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 500+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.3★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 1680 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #1 2 My Sticky Bar – Floating Notification Bar & Sticky Header (formerly myStickymenu) 100K+ · 4.9★ (1199) wp.org #2 3 Simple Banner – Easily add multiple Banners/Bars/Notifications/Announcements to the top or bottom of your website 50K+ · 4.8★ (45) wp.org #3 4 WPFront Notification Bar 40K+ · 4.5★ (131) wp.org #4 5 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too low 6 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too high 7 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #8 1 too low 8 Notibar – Notification Bar for WordPress 8K+ · 4.8★ (71) wp.org #9 ↑1 1 too low 9 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #20 ↑4 11 too low 10 Debug Bar 20K+ · 4.1★ (69) wp.org #11 ↑1 1 too low 11 Cookie Bar 10K+ · 4.9★ (23) wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too high 12 Depicter — Popup & Slider Builder 70K+ · 4.6★ (236) wp.org #12 ↑3 13 Icegram Engage – Popups, Welcome Bars, Optins, Slide-Ins & Lead Generation for WordPress 10K+ · 4.7★ (370) wp.org #15 2 too low 14 Yoast Duplicate Post 3M+ · 4.7★ (538) wp.org #14 15 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #21 ↓10 6 too low 16 Mobile Contact Bar 9K+ · 4.6★ (30) wp.org #17 ↑1 1 too low 17 MC4WP: Mailchimp Top Bar – Email Subscribe Notification Bar 6K+ · 4.6★ (31) wp.org #13 4 too high 18 Speed Contact Bar 4K+ · 4.6★ (56) wp.org #23 5 too low 19 Free Shipping Label and Progress Bar for WooCommerce 5K+ · 5.0★ (43) wp.org #19 20 EU Cookies Bar for WordPress 9K+ · 4.8★ (26) wp.org #22 ↓2 2 too low 21 Read Meter – Reading Time & Progress Bar 10K+ · 4.5★ (19) wp.org #18 ↓2 3 too high 22 Admin Bar Editor – Toolbar Customization with User Role based access & Custom menus 3K+ · 4.4★ (24) wp.org #24 ↓2 2 too low 23 Progress Bars 500+ · 3.3★ (3) wp.org #7 16 too high 24 Skill Bars 300+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #16 ↑1 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.