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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “disable admin toolbar”

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 “disable admin toolbar”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

MM Admin Bar Manager shows at wp.org #14 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 4228 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Admin Menu Editor 300K+ · 4.6★ (312) wp.org #2 ↓1 1 too low 2 Admin Bar Editor – Toolbar Customization with User Role based access & Custom menus 3K+ · 4.4★ (24) wp.org #1 ↑2 1 too high 3 Disable All WordPress Updates 20K+ · 4.8★ (69) wp.org #4 ↑2 1 too low 4 Disable Bloat for WordPress & WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.8★ (100) wp.org #7 ↑1 3 too low 5 Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #13 ↑5 8 too low 6 Disable Everything 30K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #3 ↓1 3 too high 7 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too high 8 Accessibility Widget by OneTap – Easy One-Click Accessibility Toolbar 60K+ · 4.9★ (80) wp.org #11 3 too low 9 WP Custom Admin Interface 30K+ · 4.7★ (160) wp.org #8 ↓3 1 too high 10 View Admin As 9K+ · 4.9★ (49) wp.org #10 ↓1 11 Hide Admin Bar Based on User Roles – Disable the WordPress Toolbar by Role or Capability 20K+ · 3.9★ (20) wp.org #5 ↓1 6 too high 12 WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #23 11 too low 13 Auto Hide Admin Bar 3K+ · 4.8★ (32) wp.org #12 1 too high 14 Featherweight 10K+ · 4.1★ (45) wp.org #9 ↑1 5 too high 15 Adminify – White Label, Admin Menu Editor, Login Customizer 6K+ · 4.3★ (109) wp.org #21 ↑1 6 too low 16 A Admin Bar & Dashboard Access Control 3K+ · 4.7★ (18) wp.org #15 ↓2 1 too high 17 ACF Frontend Admin by DynamiApps 8K+ · 4.5★ (160) wp.org #24 ↓9 7 too low 18 WP Frontend Admin – Display WP Admin Pages in the Frontend 400+ · 4.9★ (54) wp.org #22 ↑2 4 too low 19 My WP Customize Admin/Frontend 8K+ · 4.3★ (16) wp.org #19 20 Default Admin Color Scheme 800+ · 4.7★ (9) wp.org #18 ↑2 2 too high 21 Disable Block Editor FullScreen mode 1K+ · 4.3★ (8) wp.org #17 4 too high 22 Admin Help Docs 600+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #20 ↑1 2 too high 23 MM Admin Bar Manager 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 9 too high 24 Disable CSS JS Cache 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 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.