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

Browser Theme Color – Address Bar Color & Dark Mode shows at wp.org #2 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 18 places. Its 2K+ 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

Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 612 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 Prevent Browser Caching 10K+ · 4.9★ (29) wp.org #1 2 My Sticky Bar – Floating Notification Bar & Sticky Header (formerly myStickymenu) 100K+ · 4.9★ (1198) wp.org #4 ↓1 2 too low 3 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4958) wp.org #7 4 too low 4 Cookie Bar 10K+ · 4.9★ (23) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too high 5 Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (878) wp.org #10 ↓1 5 too low 6 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1679) wp.org #11 ↓1 5 too low 7 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14380) wp.org #13 6 too low 8 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4126) wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too low 9 Responsive Menu – Create Mobile-Friendly Menu 70K+ · 4.5★ (573) wp.org #12 ↓1 3 too low 10 HashBar – Announcement, Notification Bar & Popup Campaign 9K+ · 4.2★ (37) wp.org #6 ↓1 4 too high 11 Speed Contact Bar 4K+ · 4.6★ (56) wp.org #8 ↓2 3 too high 12 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #20 ↑1 8 too low 13 Menu Cart for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.6★ (99) wp.org #15 ↓1 2 too low 14 Popup Builder – Create highly converting, mobile friendly marketing popups. 200K+ · 4.7★ (2215) wp.org #18 4 too low 15 Photo Gallery by 10Web – Mobile-Friendly Image Gallery 100K+ · 4.5★ (1581) wp.org #21 ↓2 6 too low 16 Announcer – Sticky Message Banner & Notification Bar 10K+ · 4.8★ (40) wp.org #17 ↓1 1 too low 17 Depicter — Popup & Slider Builder 80K+ · 4.6★ (235) wp.org #19 ↓2 2 too low 18 ShiftNav – Responsive Mobile Menu 10K+ · 4.6★ (68) wp.org #23 ↓1 5 too low 19 Popup Builder & Popup Maker for WordPress – OptinMonster Email Marketing and Lead Generation 1M+ · 4.3★ (819) wp.org #24 ↓1 5 too low 20 Browser Theme Color – Address Bar Color & Dark Mode 2K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #2 18 too high 21 Browser Address Bar Color 400+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #5 ↓1 16 too high 22 WP BrowserUpdate 1K+ · 4.6★ (16) wp.org #22 ↓2 23 UnoDock – Mobile Bottom Navigation 600+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #16 ↓1 7 too high 24 Mobile Smart App Banner 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 ↓2 10 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.