wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “multisite 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 “multisite menu”, 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 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 #12 but places #20 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
WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 5209 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Admin Menu Editor 300K+ · 4.6★ (312)
wp.org #1 2 
Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882)
wp.org #2 ↑1 3 
Nav Menu Roles 70K+ · 4.9★ (219)
wp.org #3 ↓1 4 
WP Responsive Menu 30K+ · 4.3★ (100)
wp.org #4 ↑1 5 
Menu Cart for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.6★ (99)
wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too low 6 
LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778)
wp.org #9 ↑2 3 too low 7 
Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510)
wp.org #7 ↓3 8 
Float menu – awesome floating side menu 30K+ · 4.4★ (41)
wp.org #5 ↑1 3 too high 9 
Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940)
wp.org #13 4 too low 10 
Multisite Language Switcher 3K+ · 4.8★ (99)
wp.org #8 2 too high 11 WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209)
wp.org #17 6 too low 12 
All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720)
wp.org #18 6 too low 13 
ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051)
wp.org #20 ↓1 7 too low 14 
Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423)
wp.org #23 ↑1 9 too low 15 
BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323)
wp.org #19 ↑1 4 too low 16 
Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667)
wp.org #24 8 too low 17 D Dropdown Multisite Selector 900+ · 5.0★ (19) thin reviews
wp.org #10 ↓1 7 too high 18 
WP Menu Cart 8K+ · 4.8★ (23) thin reviews
wp.org #11 ↓1 7 too high 19 
Ultimate Multisite – WordPress Multisite SaaS & WaaS Platform 80+ · 5.0★ (11) thin reviews
wp.org #14 5 too high 20 Side Menu Lite – Sticky Floating Side Menu 7K+ · 4.0★ (12) thin reviews
wp.org #12 8 too high 21 
Groovy Menu Plugin (Free) 4K+ · 3.6★ (25)
wp.org #15 6 too high 22 
Multisite Custom CSS 100+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews
wp.org #21 1 too high 23 
Bubble Menu – Floating Button Menu with Sticky Navigation 1K+ · 4.2★ (9) thin reviews
wp.org #16 7 too high 24 
Multisite Site Index 100+ · 4.6★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #22 ↑1 2 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.