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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “flat ui admin”

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 “flat ui admin”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

UX Flat shows at wp.org #5 but places #12 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.7★ average from 13 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin places #3 on merit, 4.9★ from 1281 reviews, but shows at wp.org #7. 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 #1 2 Flat Rate Shipping Method for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.2★ (76) wp.org #2 3 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #7 4 too low 4 PI Advanced Flat rate / Conditional shipping for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.9★ (58) wp.org #4 5 Media Library Assistant 70K+ · 4.8★ (202) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #3 3 too high 7 Easy Digital Downloads – eCommerce Payments and Subscriptions made easy 40K+ · 4.7★ (591) wp.org #10 3 too low 8 FileBird – WordPress Media Library Folders & File Manager 200K+ · 4.7★ (1125) wp.org #12 4 too low 9 Adminify – White Label, Admin Menu Editor, Login Customizer 6K+ · 4.3★ (109) wp.org #8 1 too high 10 Weight Based Shipping for WooCommerce 50K+ · 4.6★ (83) wp.org #9 1 too high 11 Advanced Product Fields (Product Addons) for WooCommerce 50K+ · 4.8★ (284) wp.org #14 3 too low 12 UX Flat 2K+ · 4.7★ (13) wp.org #5 7 too high 13 Product Feed PRO for WooCommerce by AdTribes – Product Feeds for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.7★ (1071) wp.org #20 7 too low 14 Docket Cache – Object Cache Accelerator 20K+ · 4.9★ (50) wp.org #13 1 too high 15 Dokan: AI Powered WooCommerce Multivendor Marketplace Solution – Build Your Own Amazon, eBay, Etsy 30K+ · 4.6★ (769) wp.org #15 16 Pay for Payment for WooCommerce – Payment Gateway Fees & Discounts 10K+ · 4.7★ (71) wp.org #16 17 FluentSnippets – High-Performance Code Snippets, Header & Footer Code, Custom CSS & PHP Code Manager 50K+ · 4.7★ (78) wp.org #17 18 Darkify – Dark Mode & Night Mode for Website & Admin (Dark Theme Included) 1K+ · 4.7★ (27) wp.org #11 7 too high 19 Simple Job Board 10K+ · 4.7★ (133) wp.org #21 2 too low 20 Theme Switcha – Easily Switch Themes for Development and Testing 7K+ · 4.4★ (63) wp.org #23 3 too low 21 Affiliates Manager 8K+ · 4.1★ (61) wp.org #22 1 too low 22 Conditional Shipping for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.6★ (22) wp.org #19 3 too high 23 Product Attachment for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.5★ (24) wp.org #18 5 too high 24 Dashify: WooCommerce admin dashboard theme 800+ · 4.7★ (12) 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.