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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “highlight menu”

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 “highlight menu”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

Custom Highlight Color shows at wp.org #7 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 900+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Ivory Search – WordPress Search Plugin places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 1562 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 wp.org
1 Admin Menu Editor 300K+ · 4.6★ (312) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #2 ↑3 3 Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882) wp.org #3 ↓2 4 Responsive Menu – Mobile Menu & Hamburger Menu Builder 70K+ · 4.5★ (576) wp.org #5 ↓2 1 too low 5 Highlight Search Terms 6K+ · 5.0★ (40) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 Float menu – awesome floating side menu 30K+ · 4.4★ (41) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 Simple Floating Menu 10K+ · 5.0★ (38) wp.org #8 9 Ivory Search – WordPress Search Plugin 90K+ · 4.9★ (1562) wp.org #19 ↓7 10 too low 10 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #20 10 too low 11 QuadMenu – Mega Menu 10K+ · 4.5★ (270) wp.org #15 ↑1 4 too low 12 Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #22 10 too low 13 Admin Menu Tree Page View 10K+ · 4.6★ (48) wp.org #13 ↑1 14 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #21 ↓2 7 too low 15 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #18 3 too low 16 Master Addons for Elementor – Elementor Addons, Widgets, Mega Menu Builder, Popup Builder, Widget Builder & Template Kits 30K+ · 4.5★ (212) wp.org #24 ↓3 8 too low 17 Food Menu – Restaurant Menu & Online Ordering for WooCommerce 2K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #14 ↑1 3 too high 18 Catch Sticky Menu 2K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #12 ↑1 6 too high 19 Restaurant Menu and Food Ordering 2K+ · 4.5★ (15) wp.org #11 8 too high 20 Custom Highlight Color 900+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #7 13 too high 21 Offcanvas Mobile Menu 800+ · 4.9★ (18) wp.org #16 ↑1 5 too high 22 Side Menu Lite – Sticky Floating Side Menu 7K+ · 4.0★ (12) wp.org #10 12 too high 23 Groovy Menu Plugin (Free) 4K+ · 3.6★ (25) wp.org #17 ↑1 6 too high 24 Highlight Sitewide Notice, Text, Button Menu 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 ↓1 1 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.