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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “loading 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 “loading bar”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 3 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

Freetop – Free Shipping Bar for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #9 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.7★ average from 40 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Translate WordPress with GTranslate places #7 on merit, 4.9★ from 4962 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #1 2 Loading Page with Loading Screen 10K+ · 4.6★ (124) wp.org #2 3 My Sticky Bar – Floating Notification Bar & Sticky Header (formerly myStickymenu) 100K+ · 4.9★ (1199) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Debug Bar 20K+ · 4.1★ (69) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #6 ↑2 1 too low 6 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #11 ↓1 5 too low 7 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #13 ↓1 6 too low 8 Admin Bar Editor – Toolbar Customization with User Role based access & Custom menus 3K+ · 4.4★ (24) wp.org #4 4 too high 9 Embed Plus for YouTube Gallery, Livestream and Lazy Loading with Facades 100K+ · 4.6★ (572) wp.org #14 5 too low 10 Menu Cart for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.6★ (99) wp.org #10 ↑1 11 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #17 ↑4 6 too low 12 Auto Hide Admin Bar 3K+ · 4.8★ (32) wp.org #8 ↓1 4 too high 13 HashBar – Announcement, Notification Bar & Popup Campaign 9K+ · 4.2★ (38) wp.org #7 ↓1 6 too high 14 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #19 ↓2 5 too low 15 Depicter — Popup & Slider Builder 70K+ · 4.6★ (235) wp.org #12 ↑1 3 too high 16 Freetop – Free Shipping Bar for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.7★ (40) wp.org #9 7 too high 17 MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) wp.org #23 ↓5 6 too low 18 Simple Banner – Easily add multiple Banners/Bars/Notifications/Announcements to the top or bottom of your website 50K+ · 4.8★ (45) wp.org #18 ↑1 19 Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #21 ↑3 2 too low 20 Reading progressbar 6K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #15 5 too high 21 Icegram Engage – Popups, Welcome Bars, Optins, Slide-Ins & Lead Generation for WordPress 10K+ · 4.7★ (370) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 Free Shipping Label and Progress Bar for WooCommerce 5K+ · 5.0★ (43) wp.org #16 6 too high 23 Black Bar 500+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #20 3 too high 24 Browser Address Bar Color 300+ · 4.5★ (2) 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.