wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “user role specific admin bar”
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 “user role specific admin bar”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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
Remove WP Admin Bar shows at wp.org #14 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 100+ 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.
How this rank is calculated
Each plugin's merit score multiplies these inputs together: how recently it was updated, how current its "tested up to" WordPress version is, its install base (log scale, capped at 10 million), its support thread resolution rate, and a rating score. The rating score weights the star average by review volume against a sitewide prior, then scales it by the lower bound of the share of 4 and 5 star reviews. A plugin with 3.7 stars from tens of thousands of reviews can still outscore a 4.9 with a few dozen, because the small sample carries less certainty.
A health factor between 0.4 and 1.15 then adjusts that score for what wp.org's search can't see: PHP fatals or failed activations on a test install, PHP and WordPress compatibility, memory and page-speed footprint, suspicious review patterns, closure risk, and a large install base with very few reviews. Clean, adopted plugins earn a small lift.
A keyword ranking starts from wp.org's search order for the term, weighting each position by 1 divided by its place, then applies the merit correction and health factor above. Relevance to the keyword stays in the result, so the order can differ from the all-categories list on /best, which scores plugins with no search term.
Hover a row to see the main reason for its position.
Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1,281)
wp.org #1 2 
User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor 40K+ · 4.7★ (738)
wp.org #2 ↑1 3 
User Registration & Membership – Free & Paid Memberships, Subscriptions, Content Restriction, User Profile, Custom User Registration & Login Builder 50K+ · 4.8★ (832)
wp.org #6 ↑1 wp.org ranks it 3 places below merit 4 
Admin Menu Editor 300K+ · 4.6★ (312)
wp.org #7 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 3 places below merit 5 
Admin Bar Editor – Toolbar Customization with User Role based access & Custom menus 3K+ · 4.4★ (24) thin reviews
wp.org #3 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 2 places above merit 6 
WP User Manager – Registration Form, Login Form, User Profile Builder & Member Directory 10K+ · 4.7★ (350)
wp.org #9 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 3 places below merit 7 
User Admin Simplifier 10K+ · 5.0★ (31)
wp.org #5 wp.org ranks it 2 places above merit 8 
All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1,720)
wp.org #10 wp.org ranks it 2 places below merit 9 
User Frontend – Membership, User Registration, User Profile, User Directory & Content Restriction with Frontend Post Submission 20K+ · 4.1★ (537)
wp.org #11 ↑6 wp.org ranks it 2 places below merit 10 
Hide Admin Bar Based on User Roles – Disable the WordPress Toolbar by Role or Capability 20K+ · 3.9★ (21) thin reviews
wp.org #4 wp.org ranks it 6 places above merit 11 
Login as User: See the Site as Any User 30K+ · 4.8★ (41)
wp.org #8 ↑1 wp.org ranks it 3 places above merit 12 
Open User Map – Interactive Leaflet Maps 10K+ · 5.0★ (70)
wp.org #12 ↓2 13 
WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2,617)
wp.org #19 wp.org ranks it 6 places below merit 14 
WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1,919)
wp.org #21 ↑2 wp.org ranks it 7 places below merit 15 
ProfileGrid – User Profiles, Groups and Communities 5K+ · 4.6★ (236)
wp.org #18 wp.org ranks it 3 places below merit 16 
The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2,463)
wp.org #22 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 6 places below merit 17 
ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2,052)
wp.org #23 wp.org ranks it 6 places below merit 18 
ProfilePress – Paid Membership, Online Courses (LMS), Ecommerce, User Registration & Login Form, User Profile & Restrict Content 100K+ · 3.1★ (938)
wp.org #15 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 3 places above merit 19 
WP Custom Admin Interface 30K+ · 4.7★ (160)
wp.org #20 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 20 
Hide Admin Bar 20K+ · 4.5★ (30)
wp.org #13 ↓2 wp.org ranks it 7 places above merit 21 
User Login History 10K+ · 4.6★ (29)
wp.org #16 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 5 places above merit 22 
Notibar – Notification Bar for WordPress 8K+ · 4.8★ (71)
wp.org #24 wp.org ranks it 2 places below merit 23 
Better Admin Bar 3K+ · 4.8★ (19) thin reviews
wp.org #17 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 6 places above merit 24 Remove WP Admin Bar 100+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #14 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 10 places above merit Merit ranking caps the install boost at 10M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted 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.