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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “notices”

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 “notices”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 2 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

Unnotifier — disable admin notices individually shows at wp.org #8 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Orbit Fox: Duplicate Page, Menu Icons, SVG Support, Cookie Notice, Custom Fonts & More places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 317 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Disable Admin Notices – Hide Dashboard Notifications 100K+ · 4.7★ (367) wp.org #1 2 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Admin Notices Manager 10K+ · 4.9★ (21) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Contact Form 7 10M+ · 4.0★ (2186) wp.org #4 ↑2 5 GDPR Cookie Compliance – Cookie Banner, Cookie Consent, Cookie Notice for CCPA, EU Cookie Law 300K+ · 4.6★ (205) wp.org #5 ↓1 6 CookieYes – Cookie Banner for Cookie Consent (Easy to setup GDPR/CCPA Compliant Cookie Notice) 1M+ · 4.8★ (3236) wp.org #9 ↓2 3 too low 7 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #11 4 too low 8 WPConsent – Cookie Banner & Cookie Consent for Privacy Compliance (GDPR / CCPA / EU Compliance Cookie Notice) 200K+ · 4.8★ (84) wp.org #10 ↓1 2 too low 9 Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445) wp.org #16 ↓3 7 too low 10 Cart Notices for WooCommerce 2K+ · 5.0★ (41) wp.org #6 ↓1 4 too high 11 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #17 ↑1 6 too low 12 Orbit Fox: Duplicate Page, Menu Icons, SVG Support, Cookie Notice, Custom Fonts & More 100K+ · 4.8★ (317) wp.org #24 12 too low 13 Hide admin notices – Admin Notification Center 7K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #12 ↓2 1 too high 14 GDPR tools: Cookie notice + privacy 5K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #7 7 too high 15 Popups for WooCommerce: Add to Cart, Checkout & More 2K+ · 4.8★ (12) wp.org #13 2 too high 16 ATR Cookie Notice 1K+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #19 3 too low 17 Hide Dashboard Notifications 20K+ · 3.9★ (33) wp.org #23 ↓4 6 too low 18 Unnotifier — disable admin notices individually 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #8 10 too high 19 WPS Notice Center 3K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #15 ↓3 4 too high 20 Notification Bar, Announcement and Cookie Notice WordPress Plugin – FooBar 3K+ · 4.8★ (10) wp.org #22 ↓2 2 too low 21 Lightweight Cookie Notice – Cookie Banner for Cookie Consent 5K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #18 ↓3 3 too high 22 Cookie Notice lite 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 ↓3 2 too high 23 Alert Box Block – Grab Attention with Eye-Catching Notices 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↑2 9 too high 24 Courier Notices 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 3 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.