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

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 navigation”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 3 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

Analytify – Dashboard Widget for Google Analytics shows at wp.org #10 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 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 #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 1680 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. 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 2 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #2 3 Menu Icons by Themeisle – Add Icons to Navigation Menus 100K+ · 4.9★ (851) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #8 ↑1 4 too low 5 Download Plugins and Themes in ZIP from Dashboard 30K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #3 ↑1 2 too high 6 Dark Mode for WP Dashboard 3K+ · 4.8★ (34) wp.org #4 ↓1 2 too high 7 Frontend Dashboard 500+ · 4.9★ (136) wp.org #7 ↓1 8 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too low 9 MainWP Dashboard: Self-hosted WordPress Management for Agencies 20K+ · 4.9★ (2354) wp.org #12 ↑3 3 too low 10 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #13 ↓1 3 too low 11 MainWP Child – Securely Connects to the MainWP Dashboard to Manage Multiple Sites 700K+ · 5.0★ (71) wp.org #6 5 too high 12 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #21 ↑3 9 too low 13 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #14 ↓7 1 too low 14 The SEO Framework – Fast, Automated, Effortless. 200K+ · 4.9★ (380) wp.org #24 10 too low 15 Disable Bloat for WordPress & WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.8★ (100) wp.org #23 ↓2 8 too low 16 UpdraftCentral Dashboard 5K+ · 4.5★ (22) wp.org #11 5 too high 17 White Label – WordPress Custom Admin, Custom Login Page, and Custom Dashboard 10K+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #19 ↓2 2 too low 18 OpenStation – Admin Dashboard Notes, Custom Dashboard, AI Assistant & PWA 1K+ · 5.0★ (23) wp.org #18 ↓2 19 Beehive Analytics – Google Analytics Dashboard 20K+ · 4.5★ (13) wp.org #17 ↓3 2 too high 20 Dashboard quick links widget 600+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #22 ↓3 2 too low 21 Analytify – Dashboard Widget for Google Analytics 10K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #10 11 too high 22 Endless Posts Navigation 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #15 7 too high 23 UnoDock – Mobile Bottom Navigation 700+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #20 ↓2 3 too high 24 Admin Dashboard RSS Feed 500+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↓3 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.