wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “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 “menu”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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

Ollie Menu Designer shows at wp.org #13 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 6K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 8 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

User Menus – Nav Menu Visibility places #11 on merit, 5.0★ from 1281 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 signals wp.org

Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882) wp.org #1 2

Admin Menu Editor 300K+ · 4.6★ (312) wp.org #2 3

Menu Icons by Themeisle – Add Icons to Navigation Menus 100K+ · 4.9★ (851) wp.org #3 4

Nav Menu Roles 70K+ · 4.9★ (219) wp.org #4 ↑9 5

Sticky Menu & Sticky Header 90K+ · 4.7★ (763) wp.org #5 ↓1 6

Responsive Menu – Mobile Menu & Hamburger Menu Builder 70K+ · 4.5★ (574) wp.org #6 ↓1 7

WP Mobile Menu – The Mobile-Friendly Responsive Menu 70K+ · 4.7★ (256) wp.org #7 ↓1 8

WP Responsive Menu 30K+ · 4.3★ (100) wp.org #8 ↓1 9

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #10 ↑8 1 too low 10

WP Menu Icons 20K+ · 4.9★ (139) wp.org #12 ↓1 2 too low 11

User Menus – Nav Menu Visibility 80K+ · 5.0★ (1281) wp.org #21 ↓7 10 too low 12

Float menu – awesome floating side menu 30K+ · 4.4★ (41) wp.org #9 3 too high 13

Menu Cart for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.6★ (99) wp.org #14 ↓6 1 too low 14

Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) not PHP-current wp.org #19 ↑3 5 too low 15

Iks Menu – WordPress Category Accordion Menu & FAQs 10K+ · 5.0★ (27) wp.org #15 1 too high 17 D Duplicate Menu 100K+ · 4.6★ (104) wp.org #20 ↓1 3 too low 18

Simple Floating Menu 10K+ · 5.0★ (38) wp.org #18 ↑2 19

WP Bottom Menu 20K+ · 4.5★ (23) thin reviews wp.org #16 3 too high 20

Advanced Sidebar Menu 10K+ · 4.5★ (37) wp.org #23 ↑1 3 too low 21 M Menu Duplicator 10K+ · 4.7★ (13) thin reviews wp.org #17 4 too high 22

Ollie Menu Designer 6K+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #13 ↓1 9 too high 23

WP Menu Cart 8K+ · 4.8★ (23) thin reviews wp.org #22 ↑1 1 too high 24

Side Menu Lite – Sticky Floating Side Menu 7K+ · 4.0★ (12) thin reviews wp.org #24

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.