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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “full 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 “full bar”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

Easy Notification Bar shows at wp.org #10 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 9K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.6★ average from 16 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups places #6 on merit, 4.8★ from 2470 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) 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 Debug Bar 20K+ · 4.1★ (69) wp.org #3 4 Admin Bar Editor – Toolbar Customization with User Role based access & Custom menus 3K+ · 4.4★ (24) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 Mobile Contact Bar 9K+ · 4.6★ (30) wp.org #5 6 WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470) wp.org #18 ↑2 12 too low 7 Speed Contact Bar 4K+ · 4.6★ (56) wp.org #7 8 MC4WP: Mailchimp Top Bar – Email Subscribe Notification Bar 6K+ · 4.6★ (31) wp.org #4 4 too high 9 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #14 ↑1 5 too low 10 Progress Bar 1K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #8 2 too high 11 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #20 ↑1 9 too low 12 Notibar – Notification Bar for WordPress 8K+ · 4.8★ (71) wp.org #12 ↑1 13 Menu Cart for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.6★ (99) wp.org #13 ↑1 14 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #21 ↓2 7 too low 15 HashBar – Announcement, Notification Bar & Popup Campaign 9K+ · 4.2★ (38) wp.org #9 ↑1 6 too high 16 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #22 6 too low 17 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #23 6 too low 18 Maintenance 1M+ · 4.4★ (869) wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too low 19 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #16 ↓4 3 too high 20 Freetop – Free Shipping Bar for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.7★ (40) wp.org #11 9 too high 21 Easy Notification Bar 9K+ · 4.6★ (16) wp.org #10 ↓1 11 too high 22 Full-Text Search 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 5 too high 23 WBD Progress Bar For Gutenberg 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 ↑1 8 too high 24 Remove WP Admin Bar 100+ · 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.