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

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 class”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Side Menu Lite – Sticky Floating Side Menu shows at wp.org #14 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 7K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 12 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

User Menus – Nav Menu Visibility places #8 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 wp.org
1 Admin Menu Editor 300K+ · 4.6★ (312) wp.org #1 2 Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882) wp.org #2 ↑3 3 Menu Icons by Themeisle – Add Icons to Navigation Menus 100K+ · 4.9★ (851) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 Sticky Menu & Sticky Header 90K+ · 4.7★ (763) wp.org #4 ↓1 5 Responsive Menu – Mobile Menu & Hamburger Menu Builder 70K+ · 4.5★ (574) wp.org #5 ↓3 6 Menu Cart for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.6★ (99) wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too low 7 Float menu – awesome floating side menu 30K+ · 4.4★ (41) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too high 8 User Menus – Nav Menu Visibility 80K+ · 5.0★ (1281) wp.org #21 ↑1 13 too low 9 Iks Menu – WordPress Category Accordion Menu & FAQs 10K+ · 5.0★ (27) wp.org #9 ↑1 10 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #16 ↑1 6 too low 11 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #24 13 too low 12 QuadMenu – Mega Menu 10K+ · 4.5★ (270) wp.org #20 ↑1 8 too low 13 WP Menu Cart 8K+ · 4.8★ (23) wp.org #10 ↑1 3 too high 14 Advanced Sidebar Menu 10K+ · 4.5★ (37) wp.org #12 ↑1 2 too high 15 Ollie Menu Designer 6K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #8 ↑1 7 too high 16 SlickNav Mobile Menu 3K+ · 4.8★ (24) wp.org #13 ↑1 3 too high 17 Fixed Bottom Menu 4K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #11 ↑1 6 too high 18 Category Posts in Custom Menu 2K+ · 4.8★ (43) wp.org #23 ↑1 5 too low 19 CSS Class Manager – An advanced autocomplete additional css class control for your blocks 500+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #15 ↑1 4 too high 20 Catch Sticky Menu 2K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #17 ↑1 3 too high 21 Fullscreen Menu 2K+ · 4.7★ (14) wp.org #19 2 too high 22 Side Menu Lite – Sticky Floating Side Menu 7K+ · 4.0★ (12) wp.org #14 ↑1 8 too high 23 Navigation menu as Dropdown Widget 2K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #22 ↑1 1 too high 24 Bubble Menu – Floating Button Menu with Sticky Navigation 1K+ · 4.2★ (9) wp.org #18 ↑2 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.