wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “invalid 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 “invalid menu”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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 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
Remove invalid menu items shows at wp.org #4 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 19 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 2433 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Admin Menu Editor 300K+ · 4.6★ (312)
wp.org #1 ↑1 2 
Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882)
wp.org #3 ↓2 1 too low 3 
Ad Invalid Click Protector (AICP) 10K+ · 4.7★ (62)
wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too high 4 
Float menu – awesome floating side menu 30K+ · 4.4★ (41)
wp.org #5 1 too low 5 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #8 ↑1 3 too low 6 
Iks Menu – WordPress Category Accordion Menu & FAQs 10K+ · 5.0★ (27)
wp.org #6 7 
QuadMenu – Mega Menu 10K+ · 4.5★ (270)
wp.org #10 3 too low 8 
Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) not PHP-current
wp.org #11 3 too low 9 
ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051)
wp.org #13 4 too low 10 
WP Bottom Menu 20K+ · 4.5★ (23) thin reviews
wp.org #7 3 too high 11 Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads 300K+ · 4.9★ (2433)
wp.org #24 ↓2 13 too low 12 
All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720)
wp.org #18 6 too low 13 
Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408)
wp.org #15 2 too low 14 
ShiftNav – Responsive Mobile Menu 10K+ · 4.6★ (68)
wp.org #14 15 
Category Posts in Custom Menu 2K+ · 4.8★ (43)
wp.org #12 3 too high 16 
Unlimited Elements for Elementor 300K+ · 4.8★ (525)
wp.org #23 7 too low 17 
Catch Sticky Menu 2K+ · 5.0★ (15) thin reviews
wp.org #9 ↓1 8 too high 18 
GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155)
wp.org #16 ↓1 2 too high 19 
WP Crontrol 300K+ · 4.4★ (167)
wp.org #20 1 too low 20 
Nested Pages 90K+ · 4.7★ (126)
wp.org #21 ↓2 1 too low 21 M Menu Swapper 2K+ · 4.7★ (43)
wp.org #17 4 too high 22 
Authorizer 6K+ · 5.0★ (20) thin reviews
wp.org #22 ↓6 23 R Remove invalid menu items 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #4 19 too high 24 
Shortcode for Font Awesome 700+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #19 ↓1 5 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.