Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “sidebar nav”

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 nav”, we agree with wp.org 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

ACF Nav Menu Field shows at wp.org #7 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.6★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WPZOOM Connect: Social Icons Widget & Block, Share Buttons & Click to Chat places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 144 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Nav Menu Roles 70K+ · 4.9★ (219) wp.org #1 2 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #2 3 Sticky Menu & Sticky Header 90K+ · 4.7★ (763) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Menu Icons by Themeisle – Add Icons to Navigation Menus 100K+ · 4.9★ (851) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode 600K+ · 4.9★ (4699) wp.org #11 5 too low 7 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #10 3 too low 8 ECS – Ele Custom Skin for Elementor 100K+ · 4.6★ (117) wp.org #9 1 too low 9 Options for Twenty Twenty-One 6K+ · 4.9★ (64) wp.org #8 1 too high 10 Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails 100K+ · 4.8★ (215) wp.org #12 2 too low 11 WPZOOM Connect: Social Icons Widget & Block, Share Buttons & Click to Chat 90K+ · 4.9★ (144) wp.org #19 ↑1 8 too low 12 Nested Pages 90K+ · 4.7★ (126) wp.org #20 ↓3 8 too low 13 Logo Slider – Logo Showcase, Logo Carousel, Logo Gallery and Client Logo Presentation 30K+ · 4.7★ (252) wp.org #16 3 too low 14 Nav Menu Manager 800+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #5 9 too high 15 Sina Extension for Elementor 40K+ · 4.9★ (35) wp.org #14 1 too high 16 Options for Twenty Seventeen 8K+ · 4.8★ (57) wp.org #24 ↓1 8 too low 17 Restrict User Access – Ultimate Membership & Content Protection 10K+ · 4.3★ (94) wp.org #17 ↑1 18 My WP Customize Admin/Frontend 8K+ · 4.3★ (16) wp.org #15 3 too high 19 Side Menu Lite – Sticky Floating Side Menu 7K+ · 4.0★ (12) wp.org #13 6 too high 20 StreamWeasels Twitch Integration 1K+ · 4.8★ (23) wp.org #22 2 too low 21 Thim Kit for Elementor – Pre-built Templates & Widgets for Elementor 20K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #18 ↑1 3 too high 22 ACF Nav Menu Field 3K+ · 2.6★ (5) wp.org #7 15 too high 23 Responsive Addons for Elementor – Free Elementor Addons, Kits and Elementor Templates 3K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #23 ↑1 24 WP-CommentNavi 700+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 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.