Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 widget”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20. 5 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 #5 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 14 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

Widget Options – Advanced Conditional Visibility for Gutenberg Blocks & Classic Widgets places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 1516 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 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #1 2 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #4 ↑2 2 too low 3 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too high 4 Dashboard Widgets Suite 4K+ · 4.9★ (38) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too high 5 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #7 ↑1 2 too low 6 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 Ultimate Dashboard – Custom WordPress Dashboard 50K+ · 4.6★ (114) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too high 8 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7520) wp.org #14 ↓2 6 too low 9 MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3156) wp.org #8 ↓4 1 too high 10 Widget Options – Advanced Conditional Visibility for Gutenberg Blocks & Classic Widgets 100K+ · 4.9★ (1516) wp.org #18 ↓3 8 too low 11 Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails 100K+ · 4.8★ (215) wp.org #15 ↑5 4 too low 12 Widget Disable 10K+ · 4.8★ (24) wp.org #12 ↓1 13 Widget Context 30K+ · 4.5★ (98) wp.org #11 2 too high 14 Widgets for Social Photo Feed 10K+ · 4.7★ (28) wp.org #13 ↑5 1 too high 15 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #23 8 too low 16 Dashboard Welcome for Elementor 10K+ · 4.1★ (23) wp.org #10 6 too high 17 Download Plugins and Themes in ZIP from Dashboard 30K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #17 ↓1 18 WPZOOM Social Feed Widget & Block 50K+ · 4.3★ (51) wp.org #21 ↓7 3 too low 19 Analytify – Dashboard Widget for Google Analytics 10K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #5 14 too high 20 ExactMetrics – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Plugin) 200K+ · 2.5★ (1546) wp.org #16 ↓3 4 too high 21 GR Widget – Google Reviews Widget 900+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #19 2 too high 22 D Dashboard Commander 800+ · 4.8★ (8) wp.org #20 ↓3 2 too high 23 Dashboard quick links widget 600+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #24 ↓1 1 too low 24 Dashboard To-Do List 1K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #22 ↓1 2 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.