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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “digital menu”

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 “digital menu”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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

Easy Digital Downloads Free Link shows at wp.org #7 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 900+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager places #11 on merit, 5.0★ from 1525 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Menu Cart for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.6★ (99) wp.org #1 2 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 WP Menu Cart 8K+ · 4.8★ (23) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #4 ↑1 5 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #8 ↑2 3 too low 6 Equalize Digital Accessibility Checker – WCAG, ADA, EAA and Section 508 compliance 10K+ · 4.9★ (80) wp.org #6 7 SureCart – Ecommerce Made Easy For Selling Physical Products, Digital Downloads, Subscriptions, Donations, & Payments 80K+ · 4.8★ (288) wp.org #10 ↓1 3 too low 8 Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery 300K+ · 4.3★ (4342) wp.org #12 ↓1 4 too low 9 Digital Goods for WooCommerce Checkout 3K+ · 4.5★ (42) wp.org #5 ↓1 4 too high 10 Advanced Google reCAPTCHA 200K+ · 4.8★ (430) wp.org #16 ↑2 6 too low 11 Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1525) wp.org #22 11 too low 12 Master Addons for Elementor – Elementor Addons, Widgets, Mega Menu Builder, Popup Builder, Widget Builder & Template Kits 30K+ · 4.5★ (212) wp.org #15 ↓2 3 too low 13 Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder 600K+ · 4.9★ (4514) wp.org #24 ↓4 11 too low 14 Download Manager 100K+ · 4.1★ (1006) wp.org #19 ↓3 5 too low 15 Stylish Price List – Price Table Builder & QR Code Restaurant Menu 3K+ · 4.7★ (117) wp.org #14 ↑1 1 too high 16 WPCafe – Restaurant Menu, Online Food Ordering & Table Booking System 5K+ · 4.6★ (113) wp.org #20 ↑1 4 too low 17 Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) wp.org #21 ↑1 4 too low 18 Easy Digital Downloads Free Link 900+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #7 11 too high 19 Digital Signature Add-on for WooCommerce 900+ · 3.1★ (19) wp.org #9 ↓1 10 too high 20 Advanced Menu Manager Pro – Built for Content-heavy WordPress Sites to Add, Filter, Lock, and Edit Menus Easily 400+ · 3.7★ (22) wp.org #17 3 too high 21 Music Player for Easy Digital Downloads 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #13 ↑1 8 too high 22 Flavor – Restaurant Menu & Table Reservations 90+ · 4.0★ (3) wp.org #11 ↑1 11 too high 23 Premium Packages – Sell Digital Products Securely 2K+ · 3.8★ (4) wp.org #23 ↑1 24 Tranzly™ – AI Translation & Multilingual 7K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 ↑1 6 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.