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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “tiny 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 “tiny menu”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 of the top 20.

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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

TinyBar – Display notification bar, banner, announcement at the top or bottom of your website shows at wp.org #3 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Download Manager places #11 on merit, 4.1★ from 1006 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 TinyPNG Image Optimization – Image Compression JPEG & PNG | Convert to WebP & AVIF 100K+ · 4.5★ (181) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #4 ↑1 2 too low 3 Flying Pages: Preload Pages for Faster Navigation & Improved User Experience 20K+ · 4.9★ (79) wp.org #7 ↑1 4 too low 4 API KEY for Google Maps 30K+ · 4.9★ (55) wp.org #8 ↑1 4 too low 5 Custom Post Type WooCommerce Integration – Sell Any CPT with WooCommerce 300+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #5 ↑1 6 Invisible Anti-Spam & CAPTCHA — reCAPTCHA Alternative for All Forms 5K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #9 ↑6 3 too low 7 Zodan Mini Admin Menu 90+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #2 ↑1 5 too high 8 HTML Forms – Simple WordPress Forms Plugin 10K+ · 4.9★ (57) wp.org #13 ↑1 5 too low 9 Advanced Product Fields (Product Addons) for WooCommerce 50K+ · 4.8★ (284) wp.org #19 ↑3 10 too low 10 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #14 ↑4 4 too low 11 Download Manager 90K+ · 4.1★ (1006) wp.org #22 ↓6 11 too low 12 WP Server Health Stats 9K+ · 4.8★ (110) wp.org #18 ↑3 6 too low 13 Flying Images: Optimize and Lazy Load Images for Faster Page Speed 2K+ · 4.8★ (26) wp.org #11 2 too high 14 Ultimate Post Kit – Elementor Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider & Blog Layout Widgets 30K+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #21 ↑2 7 too low 15 Disable Block Editor FullScreen mode 1K+ · 4.3★ (8) wp.org #6 ↑1 9 too high 16 TinyBar – Display notification bar, banner, announcement at the top or bottom of your website 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #3 ↑1 13 too high 17 Filterable Portfolio 1K+ · 4.2★ (13) wp.org #10 7 too high 18 Breadcrumb Block 2K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #23 ↑1 5 too low 19 LWS Tools 10K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #17 ↑2 2 too high 20 Marquee Running Text 5K+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #16 ↑1 4 too high 21 Tiny Simple Admin Notice Silencer 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 9 too high 22 HM Multiple Roles 1K+ · 3.6★ (5) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 Dynamic Copyright Year 700+ · 3.0★ (3) wp.org #20 3 too high 24 Tiny Backup 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↓2 9 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.