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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “dropdown 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 “dropdown menu”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Menu In Post shows at wp.org #10 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 8 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

User Menus – Nav Menu Visibility places #12 on merit, 5.0★ from 1281 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 Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 Admin Menu Editor 300K+ · 4.6★ (312) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3 Menu Icons by Themeisle – Add Icons to Navigation Menus 100K+ · 4.9★ (851) wp.org #5 ↑1 2 too low 4 Responsive Menu – Mobile Menu & Hamburger Menu Builder 70K+ · 4.5★ (574) wp.org #6 ↓5 2 too low 5 Ollie Menu Designer 6K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 too high 6 Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1525) wp.org #11 ↑12 5 too low 7 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #16 8 too low 9 Country State City Dropdown CF7 5K+ · 4.9★ (30) wp.org #7 2 too high 10 Navigation menu as Dropdown Widget 2K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #4 ↑1 6 too high 11 TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #18 ↑1 7 too low 12 User Menus – Nav Menu Visibility 80K+ · 5.0★ (1281) wp.org #22 ↓7 10 too low 13 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #13 ↑5 14 D Dropdown Multisite Selector 900+ · 5.0★ (19) wp.org #8 6 too high 15 QuadMenu – Mega Menu 10K+ · 4.5★ (270) wp.org #17 2 too low 16 Admin Menu Tree Page View 10K+ · 4.6★ (48) wp.org #12 ↓1 4 too high 17 Email Templates Customizer and Designer for WordPress and WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.6★ (133) wp.org #21 4 too low 18 Variation Swatches for WooCommerce – Color, Image & Size Swatches 200K+ · 4.6★ (51) wp.org #20 2 too low 19 SlickNav Mobile Menu 3K+ · 4.8★ (24) wp.org #15 ↓1 4 too high 20 Menu In Post 2K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #10 10 too high 21 Groovy Menu Plugin (Free) 4K+ · 3.6★ (25) wp.org #14 ↓1 7 too high 22 T Taxonomy Dropdown Widget 1K+ · 4.7★ (9) wp.org #19 ↓7 3 too high 23 Menu By User Roles 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #23 24 Gutenify Mega Menu 700+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24

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.