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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “max mega 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 “max mega menu”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Menu Backup & Restore + Import/Export shows at wp.org #9 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 500+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Prime Slider – Hero Slider, Carousel, WooCommerce & Post Slider Elementor Addons places #12 on merit, 4.5★ from 82 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882) wp.org #1 2 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Menu Icons by Themeisle – Add Icons to Navigation Menus 100K+ · 4.9★ (851) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 QuadMenu – Mega Menu 10K+ · 4.5★ (270) wp.org #4 5 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Advanced Woo Search – Product Search for WooCommerce 60K+ · 4.8★ (248) wp.org #8 ↑1 2 too low 7 Options for Twenty Twenty-One 6K+ · 4.9★ (64) wp.org #10 ↑2 3 too low 8 WP Multilang – Translation and Multilingual Plugin 10K+ · 4.3★ (100) wp.org #11 3 too low 9 Max Mega Menu – StoreFront Integration 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #3 ↓1 6 too high 10 Groovy Menu Plugin (Free) 4K+ · 3.6★ (25) wp.org #7 3 too high 11 Page Builder: Pagelayer – Drag and Drop website builder 400K+ · 3.9★ (104) wp.org #14 ↓1 3 too low 12 Prime Slider – Hero Slider, Carousel, WooCommerce & Post Slider Elementor Addons 100K+ · 4.5★ (82) wp.org #20 8 too low 13 User Frontend – Membership, User Registration, User Profile, User Directory & Content Restriction with Frontend Post Submission 20K+ · 4.1★ (537) wp.org #21 ↑1 8 too low 14 Giuliomax Menu Builder 20+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #13 ↑2 1 too high 15 Extensions For CF7 (Contact form 7 Database, Conditional Fields and Redirection) 5K+ · 4.9★ (8) wp.org #16 1 too low 16 Menu Backup & Restore + Import/Export 500+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #9 ↑1 7 too high 17 Ever Compare – Products Compare Plugin for WooCommerce 600+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #19 2 too low 18 Blockenberg — 645 Advanced Gutenberg Blocks, 683 Templates and AI Agent for WordPress Block Editor 1K+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #22 ↓1 4 too low 19 King Addons for Elementor – 100+ Elementor Widgets, 4 000+ Elementor Templates, WooCommerce Builder, Mega Menu, Popup Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↓4 7 too high 20 LandTech Extras for Elementor 80+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 3 too low 21 Atomic Addons – AI Website Builder for Elementor & WooCommerce 20+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 Shortcodes and extra features for Phlox theme 80K+ · 2.1★ (7) wp.org #15 ↓1 7 too high 23 Unlimited Elements Blocks Library 500+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 6 too high 24 Topper Pack 400+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 6 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.