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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “remove admin 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 “remove admin notices”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

Comment Link Remove and Other Comment Tools shows at wp.org #7 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 8K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.1★ average from 15 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

PublishPress Capabilities: User Role Access Control, Admin Area Permissions places #10 on merit, 4.7★ from 143 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #1 2 Disable Admin Notices – Hide Dashboard Notifications 100K+ · 4.7★ (367) wp.org #2 3 Admin Columns 100K+ · 4.9★ (1652) wp.org #3 4 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too low 5 Smart Archive Page Remove 6K+ · 4.9★ (59) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 CookieYes – Cookie Banner for Cookie Consent (Easy to setup GDPR/CCPA Compliant Cookie Notice) 1M+ · 4.8★ (3236) wp.org #11 ↓3 5 too low 7 GDPR Cookie Compliance – Cookie Banner, Cookie Consent, Cookie Notice for CCPA, EU Cookie Law 300K+ · 4.6★ (205) wp.org #10 ↓7 3 too low 8 Remove "Powered by WordPress" 20K+ · 4.4★ (21) wp.org #6 ↓2 2 too high 9 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #8 ↑2 1 too high 10 PublishPress Capabilities: User Role Access Control, Admin Area Permissions 90K+ · 4.7★ (143) wp.org #17 ↓6 7 too low 11 View Admin As 9K+ · 4.9★ (49) wp.org #13 2 too low 12 Cart Notices for WooCommerce 2K+ · 5.0★ (41) wp.org #9 ↓2 3 too high 13 WP Custom Admin Interface 30K+ · 4.7★ (160) wp.org #12 ↓3 1 too high 14 Admin Menu Tree Page View 10K+ · 4.6★ (48) wp.org #18 ↓3 4 too low 15 Comment Link Remove and Other Comment Tools 8K+ · 4.1★ (15) wp.org #7 ↓2 8 too high 16 D Debloat – Remove Unused CSS, Optimize JS 30K+ · 4.8★ (41) wp.org #22 6 too low 17 Admin Columns for ACF Fields 8K+ · 4.9★ (20) wp.org #19 ↓3 2 too low 18 Disable WP Notification 10K+ · 4.3★ (12) wp.org #14 ↓2 4 too high 19 Smart Attachment Page Remove 900+ · 4.7★ (13) wp.org #16 3 too high 20 Hide Admin Bar Based on User Roles – Disable the WordPress Toolbar by Role or Capability 20K+ · 3.9★ (20) wp.org #20 21 Admin Help Docs 600+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #23 ↓4 2 too low 22 Unnotifier — disable admin notices individually 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #15 ↓1 7 too high 23 Protect Admin 2K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #24 ↓1 1 too low 24 Remove Broken Images 700+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #21 ↓4 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.