wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “plugin 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 “plugin menu”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 5 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

Ollie Menu Designer shows at wp.org #14 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 6K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 8 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #1 2

UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8709) wp.org #2 3

Menu Icons by Themeisle – Add Icons to Navigation Menus 100K+ · 4.9★ (851) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too low 4

Admin Menu Editor 300K+ · 4.6★ (312) wp.org #3 1 too high 5

Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882) wp.org #5 ↑1 6

Nav Menu Roles 70K+ · 4.9★ (219) wp.org #6 ↑7 7

Responsive Menu – Mobile Menu & Hamburger Menu Builder 70K+ · 4.5★ (576) wp.org #9 ↓5 2 too low 8

WP Mobile Menu – The Mobile-Friendly Responsive Menu 70K+ · 4.7★ (256) wp.org #8 ↑1 9

Sticky Menu & Sticky Header 90K+ · 4.7★ (763) wp.org #10 ↓3 1 too low 10

Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) wp.org #12 ↓2 2 too low 11

Download Plugin 60K+ · 4.5★ (27) wp.org #7 ↑1 4 too high 12

WP Menu Icons 20K+ · 4.9★ (139) wp.org #15 ↑1 3 too low 13

WP Responsive Menu 30K+ · 4.3★ (100) wp.org #11 2 too high 14

Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #22 8 too low 15

BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) wp.org #21 6 too low 16

Menu Cart for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.6★ (99) wp.org #17 ↑1 1 too low 17

Float menu – awesome floating side menu 30K+ · 4.4★ (41) wp.org #13 ↑1 4 too high 18

Iks Menu – WordPress Category Accordion Menu & FAQs 10K+ · 5.0★ (27) wp.org #19 ↑1 20

Simple Floating Menu 10K+ · 5.0★ (38) wp.org #24 4 too low 21

WP Bottom Menu 20K+ · 4.5★ (23) thin reviews wp.org #20 ↑4 1 too high 22 M Menu Duplicator 10K+ · 4.7★ (13) thin reviews wp.org #18 ↑1 4 too high 23

Ollie Menu Designer 6K+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #14 ↑1 9 too high 24

Groovy Menu Plugin (Free) 4K+ · 3.6★ (25) wp.org #23 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.