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← Rankings

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

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 “panels”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 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

OffCanvas / Drawer – add sleek slide-in panels to any page shows at wp.org #4 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 900+ 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

Max Mega Menu places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 882 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 Page Builder by SiteOrigin 400K+ · 4.8★ (1005) wp.org #1 2 Flexible Editor Panel for Elementor 20K+ · 4.9★ (74) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #5 ↓1 2 too low 4 Query Monitor 200K+ · 4.9★ (470) wp.org #7 ↓2 3 too low 5 WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (195) wp.org #9 ↑1 4 too low 6 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #11 5 too low 7 White Label CMS 200K+ · 4.7★ (114) wp.org #8 ↓1 1 too low 8 Mediavine Control Panel 10K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #2 6 too high 9 Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882) wp.org #20 ↓4 11 too low 10 InfiniteWP Client 200K+ · 4.4★ (177) wp.org #15 ↓2 5 too low 11 Custom Post Type UI 1M+ · 4.6★ (276) wp.org #14 ↑1 3 too low 12 Show Pages IDs 10K+ · 5.0★ (103) wp.org #18 ↑1 6 too low 13 ECS – Ele Custom Skin for Elementor 100K+ · 4.6★ (117) wp.org #16 3 too low 14 WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (583) wp.org #6 ↑12 8 too high 15 Colorbox Panels & Info Box 1K+ · 4.6★ (44) wp.org #13 ↓4 2 too high 16 Robo Gallery – Photo & Image Slider 40K+ · 4.3★ (406) wp.org #24 8 too low 17 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #12 5 too high 18 Login Lockdown & Protection 100K+ · 4.3★ (61) wp.org #23 5 too low 19 Ocean Extra 400K+ · 3.3★ (67) wp.org #21 ↓4 2 too low 20 FlyWP Helper – Page Cache, Page Optimization, Emails for FlyWP Server Control Panel 4K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #10 ↓2 10 too high 21 OffCanvas / Drawer – add sleek slide-in panels to any page 900+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 ↑2 17 too high 22 Aruba HiSpeed Cache 100K+ · 3.0★ (10) wp.org #17 ↑5 5 too high 23 CookieAdmin – Cookie Consent Banner 400K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 Slidey Panel 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 5 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.