wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “modern navigation”
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 “modern navigation”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 4 plugins are 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
UnoDock – Mobile Bottom Navigation shows at wp.org #5 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 700+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 517 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.
Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) not PHP-current
wp.org #2 1 too low 2 
Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821)
wp.org #4 ↑1 2 too low 3 
Modern Cart – WooCommerce Side Cart & Popup Cart 60K+ · 4.9★ (16) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #1 2 too high 4 
Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882)
wp.org #6 ↑3 2 too low 5 
BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #3 2 too high 6 
Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (743)
wp.org #8 ↓2 2 too low 7 
Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528)
wp.org #11 ↑4 4 too low 8 
Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680)
wp.org #12 4 too low 9 
Robo Gallery – Photo & Image Slider 40K+ · 4.3★ (406)
wp.org #10 1 too low 10 
Tutor LMS – eLearning and online course solution 100K+ · 4.4★ (590) heavy footprint
wp.org #13 ↓5 3 too low 11 Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517)
wp.org #19 ↑1 8 too low 12 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #15 ↑4 3 too low 13 
W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420)
wp.org #21 ↑3 8 too low 14 
YITH WooCommerce Ajax Product Filter 70K+ · 3.5★ (98) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #7 7 too high 15 
Carousel Slider Block for Gutenberg 50K+ · 4.8★ (59)
wp.org #18 ↓5 3 too low 16 
Gutenberg Essential Blocks – Page Builder for Gutenberg Blocks & Patterns 100K+ · 4.9★ (216) heavy footprint
wp.org #22 6 too low 17 
Modern Fields, Custom Fields for Gutenberg 40+ · 5.0★ (11) thin reviews
wp.org #9 ↑5 8 too high 18 
Smooth Back To Top Button 40K+ · 4.9★ (31)
wp.org #16 ↑1 2 too high 19 UnoDock – Mobile Bottom Navigation 700+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #5 ↓1 14 too high 20 
LightPress Lightbox 40K+ · 4.6★ (72) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #14 ↓3 6 too high 21 
Hyper PWA – Bringing Modern Progressive Web App Experiences 400+ · 4.7★ (12) thin reviews
wp.org #24 3 too low 22 
Bubble Menu – Floating Button Menu with Sticky Navigation 1K+ · 4.2★ (9) thin reviews
wp.org #17 ↓1 5 too high 23 
Dynamic Header & Navigation for Block Themes 200+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #20 ↓2 3 too high 24 
Easy Demo Importer – A Modern One-Click Demo Import Solution 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #23 ↓2 1 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.