wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “storefront 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 “storefront menu”, 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

ThemeHunk – Side Cart, Ajax Cart & Menu Cart for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #8 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 5K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

My Sticky Bar – Floating Notification Bar & Sticky Header (formerly myStickymenu) places #5 on merit, 4.9★ from 1199 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Change Storefront Footer Copyright Text 3K+ · 4.9★ (34) wp.org #1 2

WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #3 1 too low 3

Menu Cart for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.6★ (99) wp.org #4 1 too low 4

WP Menu Cart 8K+ · 4.8★ (23) thin reviews wp.org #5 1 too low 5

My Sticky Bar – Floating Notification Bar & Sticky Header (formerly myStickymenu) 100K+ · 4.9★ (1199) wp.org #17 12 too low 6

Max Mega Menu – StoreFront Integration 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #2 4 too high 7

BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #7 8

WPB Accordion Menu – Collapsible Vertical Sidebar Responsive Mobile Menu – WooCommerce Category Accordion 10K+ · 4.4★ (54) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #6 2 too high 9

Disable and Remove Google Fonts | GDPR & DSGVO friendly 100K+ · 4.5★ (46) heavy footprint wp.org #9 10

Variation Swatches for WooCommerce – Color, Image & Size Swatches 200K+ · 4.6★ (51) wp.org #13 3 too low 11

Variation Swatches for WooCommerce 300K+ · 4.8★ (926) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #18 ↑5 7 too low 12

Ecwid by Lightspeed Ecommerce Shopping Cart 20K+ · 4.5★ (228) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #14 2 too low 13

All-in-One Sticky Anything – Click to Call, Fixed Widget, Sticky Header, Menu & Sidebar 1K+ · 4.9★ (15) thin reviews wp.org #11 2 too high 14

RestroPress – Online Food Ordering System 1K+ · 4.4★ (102) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #15 1 too low 15

Premmerce Permalink Manager for WooCommerce 40K+ · 3.9★ (53) not PHP-current wp.org #22 ↓1 7 too low 16

Spexo Addons for Elementor – Elementor Widgets, Mega Menu, Popup Builder, Template Kits and Starter Templates for Elementor 6K+ · 4.8★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #12 4 too high 17

SysBasics Customize My Account for WooCommerce – Live My Account Customizer 7K+ · 4.2★ (33) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #20 ↓1 3 too low 18

MJDD Sidrena Cijena 700+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #21 ↓1 3 too low 19

Automatic Translator with Google Translate 2K+ · 4.4★ (11) thin reviews wp.org #23 ↑1 4 too low 20

Advance Product Search- Voice & Ajax Search for WooCommerce 9K+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #24 4 too low 21

Jane Menu 200+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #10 11 too high 22

ThemeHunk – Side Cart, Ajax Cart & Menu Cart for WooCommerce 5K+ · 5.0★ (1) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #8 14 too high 23

Sidebar & Copyright Manager for Storefront by Wp-Centrics 100+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #16 7 too high 24

Futurio Extra 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #19 ↓1 5 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.