Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “side 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 “side navigation”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 16 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

Floating Side Tab shows at wp.org #3 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 600+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 1680 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 Simple Side Tab 10K+ · 4.8★ (22) wp.org #1 2 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #8 6 too low 3 Float menu – awesome floating side menu 30K+ · 4.4★ (41) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 Side Menu Lite – Sticky Floating Side Menu 7K+ · 4.0★ (12) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #11 6 too low 6 Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #14 ↑5 8 too low 7 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #15 ↓1 8 too low 8 Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (742) wp.org #16 8 too low 9 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #18 ↓3 9 too low 10 Modern Cart – WooCommerce Side Cart & Popup Cart 60K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #5 5 too high 11 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #24 ↓1 13 too low 12 Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #23 ↑1 11 too low 13 Robo Gallery – Photo & Image Slider 40K+ · 4.3★ (406) wp.org #19 ↓2 6 too low 14 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #17 ↑5 3 too low 15 Sticky Side Buttons 10K+ · 4.5★ (40) wp.org #10 ↓1 5 too high 16 Bubble Menu – Floating Button Menu with Sticky Navigation 1K+ · 4.2★ (9) wp.org #6 10 too high 17 UnoDock – Mobile Bottom Navigation 700+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #7 10 too high 18 Caddy – WooCommerce Side Cart & Free Shipping Bar 3K+ · 3.9★ (20) wp.org #13 5 too high 19 CartPops – WooCommerce Side Cart, Cart Drawer & Cart Popup 4K+ · 4.2★ (26) wp.org #12 7 too high 20 Floating Side Tab 600+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #3 ↑1 17 too high 21 Instantio — Side Cart & One-Page Checkout for WooCommerce 700+ · 4.5★ (16) wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too low 22 Fast Cart – Ultralight Ajax Side Cart for WooCommerce 200+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #20 2 too high 23 Enable Navigation Icons 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 ↑1 14 too high 24 Product Side Cart For WooCommerce 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 ↓3 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.