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

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 “wp dashboard”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20. 4 plugins are pushed down for signals wp.org ignores: errors, a host-installed base, or removal risk.

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

Dark Mode for WP Dashboard shows at wp.org #10 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.8★ average from 34 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin signals wp.org

WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #1 2

WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470) wp.org #2 3

UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #3 4

All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too low 5

WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative 500K+ · 4.1★ (758) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too high 6

WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #7 ↑2 1 too low 7

WP Dashboard Notes 20K+ · 4.6★ (110) wp.org #8 ↓1 1 too low 8

WP 2FA – Two-factor authentication for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (184) wp.org #9 ↑2 1 too low 9

Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #12 ↑5 3 too low 10

WP Data Access – App Builder for Tables, Forms, Dashboards, Charts & Maps 10K+ · 4.9★ (88) wp.org #11 ↑5 1 too low 11

BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #6 ↑2 5 too high 12

Ultimate Dashboard – Custom WordPress Dashboard 50K+ · 4.6★ (114) wp.org #13 ↑2 1 too low 13

WP Reset 300K+ · 4.8★ (1014) wp.org #20 ↑1 7 too low 14

FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #15 ↓1 1 too low 15

WP Activity Log 300K+ · 4.7★ (490) wp.org #17 ↓5 2 too low 16

WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click 100K+ · 4.8★ (1138) wp.org #22 ↑2 6 too low 17

Dark Mode for WP Dashboard 3K+ · 4.8★ (34) wp.org #10 7 too high 18

WP Accessibility 60K+ · 4.8★ (68) wp.org #14 ↑8 4 too high 19

WP Umbrella: Security Backup Restore & Monitoring 90K+ · 4.8★ (81) wp.org #16 ↑2 3 too high 20

BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) not PHP-current wp.org #19 1 too high 21

MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #18 ↑2 3 too high 22

Dashboard Widgets Suite 4K+ · 4.9★ (38) wp.org #23 1 too low 23

Connect Matomo – Analytics Dashboard for WordPress 60K+ · 4.5★ (95) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #21 ↑2 2 too high 24

ExactMetrics – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Plugin) 200K+ · 2.5★ (1546) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #24

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.