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← Rankings

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

HT Menu – WordPress Mega Menu Builder for Elementor shows at wp.org #11 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.8★ average from 9 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 2051 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. 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 #1 2 Responsive Menu – Mobile Menu & Hamburger Menu Builder 70K+ · 4.5★ (574) wp.org #2 3 Sticky Menu & Sticky Header 90K+ · 4.7★ (763) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too low 4 WP Responsive Menu 30K+ · 4.3★ (100) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 WP Mobile Menu – The Mobile-Friendly Responsive Menu 70K+ · 4.7★ (256) wp.org #5 ↓1 6 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 Iks Menu – WordPress Category Accordion Menu & FAQs 10K+ · 5.0★ (27) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 Polylang 900K+ · 4.7★ (3004) wp.org #13 ↑3 5 too low 9 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #16 ↑2 7 too low 10 Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) wp.org #12 ↑9 2 too low 11 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #20 ↑2 9 too low 12 A Adminimize 100K+ · 4.7★ (254) wp.org #19 ↓4 7 too low 13 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #21 ↓1 8 too low 14 Automatically Hierarchic Categories in Menu 2K+ · 4.6★ (13) wp.org #8 6 too high 15 Options for Twenty Twenty-One 6K+ · 4.9★ (64) wp.org #18 ↑1 3 too low 16 Ultimate Dashboard – Custom WordPress Dashboard 50K+ · 4.6★ (114) wp.org #22 6 too low 17 Category Posts in Custom Menu 2K+ · 4.8★ (43) wp.org #17 18 Restaurant Menu and Food Ordering 2K+ · 4.5★ (15) wp.org #9 9 too high 19 M Menu Item Duplicator 2K+ · 3.8★ (13) wp.org #10 9 too high 20 Groovy Menu Plugin (Free) 4K+ · 3.6★ (25) wp.org #14 ↓1 6 too high 21 Bubble Menu – Floating Button Menu with Sticky Navigation 1K+ · 4.2★ (9) wp.org #15 ↓1 6 too high 22 Responsive Vertical Icon Menu 700+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 HT Menu – WordPress Mega Menu Builder for Elementor 3K+ · 2.8★ (9) wp.org #11 12 too high 24 The Menu: Custom mobile navigation with icons 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 1 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.