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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “quick navigation”

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 “quick navigation”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 7 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

Addonify – Quick View For WooCommerce shows at wp.org #5 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 2K+ 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

Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 517 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 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #3 2 too low 2 WPC Smart Quick View for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #6 3 too low 4 YITH WooCommerce Quick View 80K+ · 3.8★ (27) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #9 ↑2 4 too low 6 Navigation menu as Dropdown Widget 2K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 Masteriyo LMS – LMS Course Builder, Quizzes & Certificates 6K+ · 4.8★ (184) wp.org #7 ↑2 8 Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (743) wp.org #17 ↓1 9 too low 9 The SEO Framework – Fast, Automated, Effortless. 200K+ · 4.9★ (380) wp.org #15 ↑4 6 too low 10 Advanced File Manager – Ultimate File Manager for WordPress And Document Library Solution 100K+ · 4.8★ (441) wp.org #21 11 too low 11 Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882) wp.org #22 ↑1 11 too low 12 Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #24 12 too low 13 Filter Everything — WordPress & WooCommerce Filters 50K+ · 4.6★ (154) wp.org #23 ↓3 10 too low 14 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #14 15 Pagination by BestWebSoft – Customizable WordPress Content Splitter and Navigation Plugin 5K+ · 4.8★ (45) wp.org #18 3 too low 16 Dashboard quick links widget 600+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #11 ↓3 5 too high 17 Float menu – awesome floating side menu 30K+ · 4.4★ (41) wp.org #20 ↓2 3 too low 18 Quick View for WooCommerce – Reno QuickView 2K+ · 4.8★ (31) wp.org #13 5 too high 19 XT Quick View for WooCommerce 300+ · 3.8★ (13) wp.org #10 9 too high 20 Addonify – Quick View For WooCommerce 2K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #5 15 too high 21 Bubble Menu – Floating Button Menu with Sticky Navigation 1K+ · 4.2★ (9) wp.org #19 ↓2 2 too high 22 One Page Quick Checkout for WooCommerce 200+ · 4.3★ (9) wp.org #16 ↓1 6 too high 23 Bizzview – Quick View for WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 ↓1 15 too high 24 Quick View For Woocommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #12 12 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.