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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “topbar”

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 “topbar”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

Custom top bar shows at wp.org #14 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 50+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Top Bar 10K+ · 4.0★ (43) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 All In One Lightbox – show any media in beautiful popups 3K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #4 ↓1 2 too low 3 Add From Server Lite 4K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 TopBar Call To Action 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #1 3 too high 5 Groovy Menu Plugin (Free) 4K+ · 3.6★ (25) wp.org #8 ↑1 3 too low 6 Virtual Classroom & Video Conferencing – BigBlueButton 400+ · 4.6★ (10) wp.org #10 4 too low 7 Init Live Search – AI-Powered, Related Posts, Slash Commands 90+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #13 6 too low 8 UltraAddons for Elementor 600+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too low 9 TopBar Buddy 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 4 too high 10 Sticky Genesis Topbar 100+ · 4.2★ (12) wp.org #22 ↓1 12 too low 11 Rixden Career Manager 10+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #17 6 too low 12 Tu WebMaster TopBar Slider 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 ↑1 6 too high 13 Sale Booster Product Offer Countdown Timer 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #16 3 too low 14 T Topbar Countdown 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 ↓1 7 too high 15 Academy Elementor Addons 300+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 4 too high 16 Antikton Topbar Countdown — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 1 too high 17 Weblix Analytics – Real-Time Stats & Visitor Counter 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 5 too high 18 S Simple top bar 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too low 19 TopBar Message – Free — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓2 2 too low 20 Show Featured Image Size in Admin TopBar 60+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 21 LumiCode Syntax Highlighter 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓1 2 too low 22 Additional Options and Tweaks 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 4 too high 23 Edminboost – Admin white label, Menu Editor, theme, topbar shortcuts — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Custom top bar 50+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #14 10 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.