wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “full width nav”

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 width nav”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 5 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

Shift8 Full Nav shows at wp.org #4 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 18 places. Its 30+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.3★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 333 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Nav Menu Roles 70K+ · 4.9★ (219) wp.org #1 2

Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #2 3

ECS – Ele Custom Skin for Elementor 100K+ · 4.6★ (117) wp.org #3 ↑2 4

ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #6 ↑1 2 too low 5

Options for Twenty Twenty-One 6K+ · 4.9★ (64) wp.org #5 ↓1 6

Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #12 ↑2 6 too low 7

Image Watermark 40K+ · 4.2★ (298) wp.org #11 4 too low 8

GutenKit – Page Builder Blocks, Patterns, and Templates for Gutenberg Block Editor 80K+ · 4.5★ (48) heavy footprint wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too high 9

Sticky Header Effects for Elementor 300K+ · 4.5★ (69) wp.org #9 10

Logo Slider – Logo Showcase, Logo Carousel, Logo Gallery and Client Logo Presentation 30K+ · 4.7★ (252) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #10 11

HappyAddons for Elementor – 160 Elementor Widgets, GSAP Animations & Templates 400K+ · 4.8★ (489) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #15 ↑1 4 too low 12

Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) heavy footprint wp.org #19 ↑3 7 too low 13

Options for Twenty Seventeen 8K+ · 4.8★ (57) wp.org #16 ↓1 3 too low 14

Photo Gallery by 10Web – Mobile-Friendly Image Gallery 100K+ · 4.5★ (1581) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #22 ↓2 8 too low 15

Team Showcase 1K+ · 4.0★ (53) wp.org #14 ↓2 1 too high 16

Animation Addons – Elementor Addons, GSAP Animations, Elementor V4 Atomic Widgets & Elementor Templates 10K+ · 4.6★ (66) wp.org #21 5 too low 17

Team Members – A WordPress Team Plugin with Gallery, Grid, Carousel, Slider, Table, List, and More 2K+ · 4.7★ (91) wp.org #23 ↓2 6 too low 18

Sina Extension for Elementor 40K+ · 4.9★ (35) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #17 1 too high 19

Options for Twenty Twenty 3K+ · 4.7★ (31) wp.org #24 ↓1 5 too low 20

WooSwipe WooCommerce Gallery 3K+ · 4.5★ (39) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #18 2 too high 21

Announcement & Notification Banner – Bulletin 2K+ · 4.6★ (20) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #20 ↓1 1 too high 22

Shift8 Full Nav 30+ · 3.3★ (4) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviewslow rating, top placement wp.org #4 ↓1 18 too high 23

News Kit Addons For Elementor 3K+ · 3.6★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #13 10 too high 24

Sticky Elementor – Sticky Header, Menu Color After Sticky, Logo Swap & Back to Top Button 600+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #8 16 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.