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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “transparent header”

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 “transparent header”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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 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

Dynamic Header & Navigation for Block Themes shows at wp.org #8 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

W3 Total Cache places #11 on merit, 4.4★ from 5420 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 Sticky Header Effects for Elementor 300K+ · 4.5★ (69) wp.org #1 2 My Sticky Bar – Floating Notification Bar & Sticky Header (formerly myStickymenu) 100K+ · 4.9★ (1198) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 Headers Security Advanced & HSTS WP 90K+ · 4.9★ (79) wp.org #3 4 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1658) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2043) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 Header Footer Builder for Elementor 30K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #2 5 too high 8 Twentig Supercharged Block Editor – Blocks, Patterns, Starter Sites, Portfolio 20K+ · 4.9★ (171) wp.org #10 2 too low 9 Spam protection, Honeypot, Anti-Spam by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3213) wp.org #17 ↑2 8 too low 10 Master Addons for Elementor – Elementor Addons, Widgets, Mega Menu Builder, Popup Builder, Widget Builder & Template Kits 30K+ · 4.5★ (212) wp.org #11 1 too low 11 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #20 ↓4 9 too low 12 Header Footer for Beaver Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (19) wp.org #9 3 too high 13 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (422) wp.org #21 8 too low 14 Statify 100K+ · 4.8★ (51) wp.org #15 ↑2 1 too low 15 Nexter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder & AI Website Builder 10K+ · 4.8★ (90) wp.org #16 ↓1 1 too low 16 All-in-One Sticky Anything – Click to Call, Fixed Widget, Sticky Header, Menu & Sidebar 1K+ · 4.9★ (15) wp.org #13 3 too high 17 Magical Addons For Elementor ( Theme Builder, Header Footer Builder, Free Elementor Widgets, Elementor Templates Library ) 4K+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #12 5 too high 18 Options for Twenty Twenty 3K+ · 4.7★ (31) wp.org #19 ↑1 1 too low 19 Snippet Shortcodes 4K+ · 4.7★ (25) wp.org #23 ↓1 4 too low 20 Dynamic Header & Navigation for Block Themes 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #8 12 too high 21 Simple Ebook Viewer 400+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too low 22 Sticky Elementor – Sticky Header, Menu Color After Sticky, Logo Swap & Back to Top Button 500+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 8 too high 23 Header Footer Builder – Custom Header & Footer for Elementor, Gutenberg & WooCommerce 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 5 too high 24 King Addons for Elementor – 100+ Elementor Widgets, 4 000+ Elementor Templates, WooCommerce Builder, Mega Menu, Popup Builder 10K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓1

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.