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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “notification 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 “notification bar”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

YooBar – Notification Bar & Announcement Bar shows at wp.org #15 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Disable Admin Notices – Hide Dashboard Notifications places #10 on merit, 4.7★ from 367 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WPFront Notification Bar 40K+ · 4.5★ (131) wp.org #1 2 My Sticky Bar – Floating Notification Bar & Sticky Header (formerly myStickymenu) 100K+ · 4.9★ (1199) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Notibar – Notification Bar for WordPress 8K+ · 4.8★ (71) wp.org #6 3 too low 4 Easy Notification Bar 9K+ · 4.6★ (16) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too high 5 NotificationX – FOMO, Live Sales Notification, WooCommerce Sales Popup, GDPR, Social Proof, Announcement Banner & Floating Notification Bar 30K+ · 4.8★ (228) wp.org #9 ↑1 4 too low 6 HashBar – Announcement, Notification Bar & Popup Campaign 9K+ · 4.2★ (38) wp.org #5 ↓3 1 too high 7 Announcer – Sticky Message Banner & Notification Bar 10K+ · 4.8★ (40) wp.org #7 ↑1 8 MC4WP: Mailchimp Top Bar – Email Subscribe Notification Bar 6K+ · 4.6★ (31) wp.org #4 ↑1 4 too high 9 Depicter — Popup & Slider Builder 70K+ · 4.6★ (235) wp.org #8 ↓1 1 too high 10 Disable Admin Notices – Hide Dashboard Notifications 100K+ · 4.7★ (367) wp.org #19 ↓1 9 too low 11 Cookie Bar 10K+ · 4.9★ (23) wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too high 12 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #20 ↓1 8 too low 13 Simple Banner – Easily add multiple Banners/Bars/Notifications/Announcements to the top or bottom of your website 50K+ · 4.8★ (45) wp.org #17 ↑5 4 too low 14 EU Cookies Bar for WordPress 9K+ · 4.8★ (26) wp.org #18 ↓1 4 too low 15 Top Bar 10K+ · 4.0★ (43) wp.org #14 1 too high 16 Notivo Notification for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.3★ (80) wp.org #16 17 Notification Bar, Announcement and Cookie Notice WordPress Plugin – FooBar 3K+ · 4.8★ (10) wp.org #11 6 too high 18 Disable WP Notification 10K+ · 4.3★ (12) wp.org #13 5 too high 19 Free Shipping Bar for WooCommerce – Progress Indicator, Popup & Alerts 200+ · 4.8★ (20) wp.org #22 ↓1 3 too low 20 Notification Master – Real-Time WordPress Notifications With Email, SMS, Webhooks & More 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #12 8 too high 21 WPC Added To Cart Notification for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.9★ (9) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 WPC Free Shipping Bar for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.2★ (13) wp.org #21 ↓1 1 too high 23 TinyBar – Display notification bar, banner, announcement at the top or bottom of your website 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 24 YooBar – Notification Bar & Announcement Bar 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 9 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.