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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “site 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 “site navigation”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

Classic Menu in Navigation Block shows at wp.org #8 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Advanced Database Cleaner – Optimize & Clean Database to Speed Up Site Performance places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 1958 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. 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★ (424) wp.org #1 2 TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1660) wp.org #2 3 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1263) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7314) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27819) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Simply Static – The Static Site Generator 30K+ · 4.5★ (194) wp.org #6 7 Twentig Supercharged Block Editor – Blocks, Patterns, Starter Sites, Portfolio 20K+ · 4.9★ (171) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4126) wp.org #11 3 too low 9 WP-PageNavi 500K+ · 4.7★ (149) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 Advanced Database Cleaner – Optimize & Clean Database to Speed Up Site Performance 100K+ · 4.9★ (1958) wp.org #22 12 too low 11 Navigation menu as Dropdown Widget 2K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #5 6 too high 12 Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (739) wp.org #19 7 too low 13 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (509) wp.org #13 14 WPFront Scroll Top 200K+ · 4.9★ (142) wp.org #20 6 too low 15 Password Protected — Lock Entire Site, Pages, Posts, Categories, and Partial Content 300K+ · 4.4★ (141) wp.org #18 3 too low 16 Classic Menu in Navigation Block 2K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #8 8 too high 17 Custom Site Logo 1K+ · 4.7★ (9) wp.org #14 3 too high 18 YITH WooCommerce Ajax Product Filter 70K+ · 3.5★ (98) wp.org #21 3 too low 19 Bubble Menu – Floating Button Menu with Sticky Navigation 1K+ · 4.2★ (9) wp.org #15 4 too high 20 Better Section Navigation 600+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #12 8 too high 21 UnoDock – Mobile Bottom Navigation 600+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 Navigation Block with Mega Menu 1K+ · 3.5★ (13) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 Admin Posts Navigation 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 6 too high 24 Navigation JHAC 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 8 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.