wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “header notification”
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 “header notification”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20.
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 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 #8 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 9 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
Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin places #12 on merit, 4.4★ from 1445 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Header Footer Code Manager 600K+ · 4.9★ (309)
wp.org #1 2 
Notification – Custom Notifications and Alerts for WordPress 10K+ · 4.6★ (124)
wp.org #2 3 
My Sticky Bar – Floating Notification Bar & Sticky Header (formerly myStickymenu) 100K+ · 4.9★ (1199)
wp.org #4 1 too low 4 
Sticky Menu & Sticky Header 90K+ · 4.7★ (763)
wp.org #6 2 too low 5 
Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) thin reviews
wp.org #3 2 too high 6 
Notification for Telegram 4K+ · 4.9★ (71)
wp.org #5 1 too high 7 
WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209)
wp.org #9 2 too low 8 
Insert Headers And Footers 200K+ · 5.0★ (135)
wp.org #7 1 too high 9 
Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132)
wp.org #13 4 too low 10 
Woody Code Snippets – Insert PHP, CSS, JS, and Header/Footer Scripts 50K+ · 4.5★ (221)
wp.org #11 ↓1 1 too low 11 
Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397)
wp.org #15 ↑2 4 too low 12 Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445)
wp.org #17 ↓2 5 too low 13 
Headers Security Advanced & HSTS WP 90K+ · 4.9★ (79)
wp.org #14 1 too low 14 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #18 ↑1 4 too low 15 
OneSignal – Web Push Notifications 60K+ · 4.3★ (360)
wp.org #19 ↓1 4 too low 16 
HashBar – Announcement, Notification Bar & Popup Campaign 9K+ · 4.2★ (38)
wp.org #10 ↑1 6 too high 17 Easy Notification Bar 9K+ · 4.6★ (16) thin reviews
wp.org #8 9 too high 18 
Notibar – Notification Bar for WordPress 8K+ · 4.8★ (71)
wp.org #21 ↑1 3 too low 19 
Announcer – Sticky Message Banner & Notification Bar 10K+ · 4.8★ (40)
wp.org #20 1 too low 20 
Web Push Notifications – Webpushr 10K+ · 4.7★ (63)
wp.org #24 4 too low 21 
Host Header Injection Fix 400+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #12 9 too high 22 
Insert Headers and Footers Code – HT Script 7K+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews
wp.org #23 ↑1 1 too low 23 
Header Footer Custom Html 1K+ · 3.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #16 7 too high 24 
Search Engines Blocked in Header 200+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #22 ↑1 2 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.