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

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 notification”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

Push Notifications for WP – Self Hosted Web Push Notifications shows at wp.org #9 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 6K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 5209 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 Disable Admin Notices – Hide Dashboard Notifications 100K+ · 4.7★ (367) wp.org #1 2 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #2 3 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #3 4 Ultimate Dashboard – Custom WordPress Dashboard 50K+ · 4.6★ (114) wp.org #4 5 MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Remove Dashboard Access 30K+ · 4.6★ (78) wp.org #10 4 too low 7 WP Data Access – App Builder for Tables, Forms, Dashboards, Charts & Maps 10K+ · 4.9★ (88) wp.org #13 6 too low 8 Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #18 ↑4 10 too low 9 Frontend Dashboard 500+ · 4.9★ (136) wp.org #14 ↓2 5 too low 10 WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #21 ↓1 11 too low 11 Hide Dashboard Notifications 20K+ · 3.9★ (33) wp.org #8 3 too high 12 Disable WP Notification 10K+ · 4.3★ (12) wp.org #7 5 too high 13 HashBar – Announcement, Notification Bar & Popup Campaign 9K+ · 4.2★ (38) wp.org #12 ↑1 1 too high 14 Notification Master – Real-Time WordPress Notifications With Email, SMS, Webhooks & More 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #5 9 too high 15 ExactMetrics – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Plugin) 200K+ · 2.5★ (1546) wp.org #11 4 too high 16 Connect Matomo – Analytics Dashboard for WordPress 60K+ · 4.5★ (95) wp.org #17 1 too low 17 Noptin – Newsletter, New Post Notifications & Email Automation 10K+ · 4.5★ (120) wp.org #19 ↓5 2 too low 18 Hide admin notices – Admin Notification Center 7K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #20 ↓3 2 too low 19 Push Notifications for WP – Self Hosted Web Push Notifications 6K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #9 10 too high 20 KeepInMind Dashboard Notes 300+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #22 ↓2 2 too low 21 WPC Added To Cart Notification for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.9★ (9) wp.org #16 5 too high 22 Analytify – Dashboard Widget for Google Analytics 10K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #15 7 too high 23 Publish Post Email Notification 600+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #23 24 WPC Smart Notifications for WooCommerce 500+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 ↓3

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.