wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “menu visibility”
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 visibility”, we and wp.org disagree 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
IF Menu Visibility shows at wp.org #10 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 200+ 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
ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 2051 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
User Menus – Nav Menu Visibility 80K+ · 5.0★ (1281)
wp.org #2 ↓1 1 too low 2 
Block Visibility — Conditional Visibility Control for the Block Editor 40K+ · 4.9★ (108)
wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too low 3 
Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882)
wp.org #5 ↓2 2 too low 4 
Admin Menu Editor 300K+ · 4.6★ (312)
wp.org #4 ↑1 5 
Nav Menu Roles 70K+ · 4.9★ (219)
wp.org #6 ↑3 1 too low 6 
Responsive Menu – Mobile Menu & Hamburger Menu Builder 70K+ · 4.5★ (574)
wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too low 7 
Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519)
wp.org #9 ↓2 2 too low 8 
Menu Visibility Control 700+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #1 ↑3 7 too high 9 
Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423)
wp.org #16 7 too low 10 
Float menu – awesome floating side menu 30K+ · 4.4★ (41)
wp.org #8 2 too high 11 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051)
wp.org #19 ↑4 8 too low 12 
Advanced Sidebar Menu 10K+ · 4.5★ (37)
wp.org #15 ↓3 3 too low 13 
If Menu – Visibility control for Menus 50K+ · 4.1★ (130)
wp.org #24 ↓3 11 too low 14 
Product Visibility by User Role for WooCommerce 6K+ · 3.8★ (21) thin reviews
wp.org #12 ↑3 2 too high 15 
WPB Accordion Menu – Collapsible Vertical Sidebar Responsive Mobile Menu – WooCommerce Category Accordion 10K+ · 4.4★ (54) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #18 ↓1 3 too low 16 
Side Menu Lite – Sticky Floating Side Menu 7K+ · 4.0★ (12) thin reviews
wp.org #13 ↓2 3 too high 17 
Easy Hide Admin Menu Items 1K+ · 5.0★ (14) thin reviews
wp.org #23 ↓3 6 too low 18 
Import Export Menu 3K+ · 4.4★ (10) thin reviews
wp.org #14 4 too high 19 
Groovy Menu Plugin (Free) 4K+ · 3.6★ (25)
wp.org #22 ↓3 3 too low 20 
Bubble Menu – Floating Button Menu with Sticky Navigation 1K+ · 4.2★ (9) thin reviews
wp.org #17 ↓4 3 too high 21 
Menu By User Roles 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #11 10 too high 22 
Widget Visibility Control 200+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #21 1 too high 23 
Osom Block Visibility 300+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #20 ↓2 3 too high 24 IF Menu Visibility 200+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #10 14 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.