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

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 “dashboard”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20. 4 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

Dashboard Welcome for Elementor shows at wp.org #12 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.1★ average from 23 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

MainWP Dashboard: Self-hosted WordPress Management for Agencies places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 2354 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 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3156) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 Ultimate Dashboard – Custom WordPress Dashboard 50K+ · 4.6★ (114) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012) wp.org #4 ↑2 5 WP Dashboard Notes 20K+ · 4.6★ (110) wp.org #6 ↑11 1 too low 6 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #5 ↓3 1 too high 7 WP Data Access – App Builder for Tables, Forms, Dashboards, Charts & Maps 10K+ · 4.9★ (88) wp.org #9 ↑6 2 too low 8 Remove Dashboard Access 30K+ · 4.6★ (78) wp.org #8 9 Disable Admin Notices – Hide Dashboard Notifications 100K+ · 4.7★ (367) wp.org #16 ↓2 7 too low 10 MainWP Dashboard: Self-hosted WordPress Management for Agencies 20K+ · 4.9★ (2354) wp.org #20 10 too low 11 MainWP Child – Securely Connects to the MainWP Dashboard to Manage Multiple Sites 700K+ · 5.0★ (71) wp.org #7 4 too high 12 Dark Mode for WP Dashboard 3K+ · 4.8★ (34) wp.org #10 ↓5 2 too high 13 Download Plugins and Themes in ZIP from Dashboard 30K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #11 ↓2 2 too high 14 Dashboard Widgets Suite 4K+ · 4.9★ (38) wp.org #14 ↓1 15 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #17 2 too low 16 Frontend Dashboard 500+ · 4.9★ (136) wp.org #24 ↓1 8 too low 17 Connect Matomo – Analytics Dashboard for WordPress 60K+ · 4.5★ (95) wp.org #13 ↓1 4 too high 18 Dashboard Welcome for Elementor 10K+ · 4.1★ (23) wp.org #12 ↓1 6 too high 19 ExactMetrics – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Plugin) 200K+ · 2.5★ (1546) wp.org #15 ↓5 4 too high 20 UpdraftCentral Dashboard 5K+ · 4.5★ (22) wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too high 21 System Dashboard 900+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #21 ↓2 22 D Dashboard Commander 800+ · 4.8★ (8) wp.org #22 ↓2 23 Dashboard Cleaner 400+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #18 ↓1 5 too high 24 Video Dashboard 600+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #23 ↓2 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.