Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “edit bar”

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 “edit bar”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

Slash Edit: Admin Shortcuts to Edit Posts and Pages Faster shows at wp.org #8 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 500+ 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

Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 1281 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WPFront Notification Bar 40K+ · 4.5★ (131) wp.org #1 2 My Sticky Bar – Floating Notification Bar & Sticky Header (formerly myStickymenu) 100K+ · 4.9★ (1199) wp.org #6 4 too low 3 Bulky – Bulk Edit Products for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.6★ (53) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Admin Bar Editor – Toolbar Customization with User Role based access & Custom menus 3K+ · 4.4★ (24) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Bulk Edit Products for WooCommerce – WP Sheet Editor 10K+ · 4.9★ (228) wp.org #5 6 EU Cookies Bar for WordPress 9K+ · 4.8★ (26) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 Progress Bar 1K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #7 8 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #12 ↑2 4 too low 9 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #18 9 too low 10 Bulk Edit Posts and Products in Spreadsheet 7K+ · 4.8★ (217) wp.org #15 ↑1 5 too low 11 User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor 40K+ · 4.7★ (738) wp.org #22 ↑1 11 too low 12 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #24 12 too low 13 Yoast Duplicate Post 3M+ · 4.7★ (538) wp.org #10 3 too high 14 Smart Manager – Bulk Edit for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.4★ (288) wp.org #20 6 too low 15 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #17 ↓6 2 too low 16 Easy Notification Bar 9K+ · 4.6★ (16) wp.org #9 7 too high 17 Hide Admin Bar from Non-Admins 10K+ · 4.3★ (30) wp.org #13 4 too high 18 Slash Edit: Admin Shortcuts to Edit Posts and Pages Faster 500+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #8 10 too high 19 Freetop – Free Shipping Bar for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.7★ (40) wp.org #11 ↑1 8 too high 20 Bulk Edit and Create User Profiles – WP Sheet Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (19) wp.org #16 ↑1 4 too high 21 Announcer – Sticky Message Banner & Notification Bar 10K+ · 4.8★ (40) wp.org #23 ↑1 2 too low 22 Hide Admin Bar Based on User Roles – Disable the WordPress Toolbar by Role or Capability 20K+ · 3.9★ (20) wp.org #14 ↑1 8 too high 23 Better Admin Bar 3K+ · 4.8★ (19) wp.org #19 4 too high 24 YooBar – Notification Bar & Announcement Bar 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 3 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.