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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “role 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 “role menu”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Menu By User Roles shows at wp.org #10 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 1K+ 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

User Menus – Nav Menu Visibility places #11 on merit, 5.0★ from 1281 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 User Role Editor 700K+ · 4.5★ (288) wp.org #1 2 Nav Menu Roles 70K+ · 4.9★ (219) wp.org #2 ↑2 3 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #3 4 Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too low 5 Admin Menu Editor 300K+ · 4.6★ (312) wp.org #4 ↓2 1 too high 6 Responsive Menu – Mobile Menu & Hamburger Menu Builder 70K+ · 4.5★ (574) wp.org #6 ↓1 7 User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor 40K+ · 4.7★ (738) wp.org #11 4 too low 8 WPFront User Role Editor 30K+ · 4.5★ (65) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #13 4 too low 10 WP Responsive Menu 30K+ · 4.3★ (100) wp.org #8 2 too high 11 User Menus – Nav Menu Visibility 80K+ · 5.0★ (1281) wp.org #23 12 too low 12 Float menu – awesome floating side menu 30K+ · 4.4★ (41) wp.org #9 3 too high 13 TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #22 ↓2 9 too low 14 PublishPress Capabilities: User Role Access Control, Admin Area Permissions 90K+ · 4.7★ (143) wp.org #18 4 too low 15 Simple Floating Menu 10K+ · 5.0★ (38) wp.org #14 1 too high 16 WP Bottom Menu 20K+ · 4.5★ (23) wp.org #15 1 too high 17 Remove admin menus by role 8K+ · 4.4★ (14) wp.org #12 5 too high 18 Product Visibility by User Role for WooCommerce 6K+ · 3.8★ (21) wp.org #16 2 too high 19 Side Menu Lite – Sticky Floating Side Menu 7K+ · 4.0★ (12) wp.org #19 20 Menu By User Roles 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #10 10 too high 21 User Role by BestWebSoft – Add and Customize Roles and Capabilities in WordPress 3K+ · 3.6★ (12) wp.org #17 4 too high 22 Restaurant Menu and Food Ordering 2K+ · 4.5★ (15) wp.org #21 ↑1 1 too high 23 Menu Visibility Control 700+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #20 ↑1 3 too high 24 Hide Menu Items by Role 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24

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.