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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “sidebar 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 “sidebar menu”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 2 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

Side Menu Lite – Sticky Floating Side Menu shows at wp.org #12 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 7K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 12 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Custom Sidebars – Dynamic Sidebar Classic Widget Area Manager places #7 on merit, 4.7★ from 1028 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Advanced Sidebar Menu 10K+ · 4.5★ (37) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Menu Icons by Themeisle – Add Icons to Navigation Menus 100K+ · 4.9★ (851) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 Sticky Menu & Sticky Header 90K+ · 4.7★ (763) wp.org #4 ↓1 5 Nav Menu Roles 70K+ · 4.9★ (219) wp.org #5 6 WP Sticky Sidebar – Floating Sidebar On Scroll for Any Theme 10K+ · 4.9★ (153) wp.org #8 ↓1 2 too low 7 Custom Sidebars – Dynamic Sidebar Classic Widget Area Manager 100K+ · 4.7★ (1028) wp.org #13 ↓3 6 too low 8 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #11 3 too low 9 Sidebar Login 9K+ · 4.5★ (78) wp.org #9 10 WPB Accordion Menu – Collapsible Vertical Sidebar Responsive Mobile Menu – WooCommerce Category Accordion 10K+ · 4.4★ (54) wp.org #6 ↓1 4 too high 11 Iks Menu – WordPress Category Accordion Menu & FAQs 10K+ · 5.0★ (27) wp.org #10 ↓2 1 too high 12 Ocean Custom Sidebar 20K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #7 ↓1 5 too high 13 QuadMenu – Mega Menu 10K+ · 4.5★ (270) wp.org #23 ↑1 10 too low 14 Off-Canvas Sidebars & Menus (Slidebars) 1K+ · 4.8★ (38) wp.org #15 ↓2 1 too low 15 Login or Logout Menu Item 20K+ · 4.8★ (23) wp.org #14 ↓2 1 too high 16 Five Star Restaurant Menu and Food Ordering 5K+ · 4.6★ (107) wp.org #20 4 too low 17 Genesis Simple Sidebars 10K+ · 4.4★ (27) wp.org #22 ↓1 5 too low 18 Side Menu Lite – Sticky Floating Side Menu 7K+ · 4.0★ (12) wp.org #12 ↓3 6 too high 19 Groovy Menu Plugin (Free) 4K+ · 3.6★ (25) wp.org #16 ↓1 3 too high 20 Resizable Sidebar for the Gutenberg Block Editor 3K+ · 4.6★ (9) wp.org #17 ↓1 3 too high 21 Fullscreen Menu 2K+ · 4.7★ (14) wp.org #24 ↓5 3 too low 22 Restaurant Menu and Food Ordering 2K+ · 4.5★ (15) wp.org #19 ↓2 3 too high 23 Import Export Menu 3K+ · 4.4★ (10) wp.org #21 ↑2 2 too high 24 SMK Sidebar Generator 10K+ · 4.4★ (5) wp.org #18 ↓4 6 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.