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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “wordpress admin menus”

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 “wordpress admin menus”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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 admin menus by role shows at wp.org #6 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 8K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.4★ average from 14 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 874 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #1 2 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #2 3 User Menus – Nav Menu Visibility 80K+ · 5.0★ (1281) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Admin Menu Editor 300K+ · 4.6★ (312) wp.org #4 5 C Conditional Menus 60K+ · 4.4★ (71) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #10 4 too low 7 Shortcode in Menus 50K+ · 4.7★ (82) wp.org #7 8 Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #9 1 too low 9 Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167) wp.org #12 3 too low 10 AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini 90K+ · 4.9★ (874) wp.org #19 9 too low 11 FG Joomla to WordPress 7K+ · 4.7★ (336) wp.org #15 4 too low 12 Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes 300K+ · 4.9★ (491) wp.org #20 8 too low 13 User Admin Simplifier 10K+ · 5.0★ (31) wp.org #11 2 too high 14 WP Custom Admin Interface 30K+ · 4.7★ (160) wp.org #18 4 too low 15 Admin Bar Editor – Toolbar Customization with User Role based access & Custom menus 3K+ · 4.4★ (24) wp.org #8 7 too high 16 Remove admin menus by role 8K+ · 4.4★ (14) wp.org #6 10 too high 17 PublishPress Capabilities: User Role Access Control, Admin Area Permissions 90K+ · 4.7★ (143) wp.org #22 5 too low 18 Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #13 5 too high 19 Admin Menu Search 3K+ · 4.9★ (14) wp.org #17 2 too high 20 Hide Drafts in Menus 1K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #14 6 too high 21 Admin Search 1K+ · 4.5★ (18) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 Slash Admin 500+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 Simplify Admin Menus 80+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 7 too high 24 Admin Menus Fixed 100+ · 4.3★ (3) wp.org #21 3 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.