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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “hello 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 “hello bar”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 4 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

Hello Bar Popup Builder shows at wp.org #1 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 19 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 1.6★ average from 7 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 2528 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 My Sticky Bar – Floating Notification Bar & Sticky Header (formerly myStickymenu) 100K+ · 4.9★ (1199) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Header Footer Code Manager 600K+ · 4.9★ (309) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 Progress Bar 1K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #3 4 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #7 ↓1 3 too low 5 Speed Contact Bar 4K+ · 4.6★ (56) wp.org #5 6 Icegram Engage – Popups, Welcome Bars, Optins, Slide-Ins & Lead Generation for WordPress 10K+ · 4.7★ (370) wp.org #6 ↑2 7 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #13 5 too low 9 Popup Builder & Popup Maker for WordPress – OptinMonster Email Marketing and Lead Generation 1M+ · 4.3★ (821) wp.org #8 ↓1 1 too high 10 Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #21 ↑3 11 too low 11 Beaver Builder Page Builder – Drag and Drop Website Builder 100K+ · 4.7★ (394) wp.org #20 ↑3 9 too low 12 FireBox – WooCommerce Popup Builder, Exit Intent Popup, Email Optin & Cart Abandonment 6K+ · 4.8★ (76) wp.org #15 ↓1 3 too low 13 GeoDirectory – WP Business Directory Plugin and Classified Listings Directory 10K+ · 4.8★ (716) wp.org #24 ↓3 11 too low 14 Estatik Real Estate Plugin 10K+ · 4.6★ (187) wp.org #23 ↓5 9 too low 15 FluentAuth – Login Security, Two-Factor Authentication, Passkeys & Social Login 10K+ · 4.1★ (35) wp.org #11 ↑1 4 too high 16 Caddy – WooCommerce Side Cart & Free Shipping Bar 3K+ · 3.9★ (20) wp.org #10 6 too high 17 Icegram Collect – Easy Contact Form, Subscription Form & Lead Collection Plugin for WordPress 2K+ · 4.7★ (30) wp.org #18 1 too low 18 WP Migrate Lite – Migration Made Easy 200K+ · 4.2★ (318) wp.org #19 1 too low 19 Modern Cart – WooCommerce Side Cart & Popup Cart 60K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #12 ↓1 7 too high 20 Hello Bar Popup Builder 3K+ · 1.6★ (7) wp.org #1 19 too high 21 FormsDB – Save Elementor Forms to Google Sheets & Post Type 20K+ · 4.6★ (19) wp.org #17 ↓1 4 too high 22 Bolt CTA Button – Floating Call Button for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #14 ↑1 8 too high 23 Animated Headline 2K+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #22 ↓2 1 too high 24 ThemeHunk – Side Cart, Ajax Cart & Menu Cart for WooCommerce 5K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↑1 8 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.