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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “back button”

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 “back button”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

MakeITeasy Back To Top shows at wp.org #6 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 2051 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Back Button Widget 4K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #1 2 Smooth Back To Top Button 40K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #2 3 Back To The Top Button 4K+ · 5.0★ (28) wp.org #3 4 Floating Chat Widget: Contact Chat Icons, Telegram Chat, Line Messenger, WeChat, Email, SMS, Call Button – Chaty 300K+ · 5.0★ (1244) wp.org #10 6 too low 5 Back In Stock Notifier for WooCommerce | WooCommerce Waitlist Pro 20K+ · 4.7★ (122) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Buttonizer – Floating Menus, Sticky Buttons, & Popup Builder 70K+ · 4.5★ (151) wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too low 7 Chat Button & Custom ChatGPT-Powered Bot by GetButton.io 20K+ · 4.5★ (175) wp.org #12 ↓3 5 too low 8 WP ULike – Like Buttons, Voting & Engagement Analytics 60K+ · 4.8★ (283) wp.org #16 8 too low 9 Simple Share Buttons Adder 40K+ · 4.3★ (627) wp.org #19 ↑2 10 too low 10 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #22 ↓3 12 too low 11 BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) wp.org #17 ↑1 6 too low 12 Button Block – Stylish buttons that get more clicks 5K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #5 7 too high 13 Buttonizer – Live Chat, AI Chatbot, Call, Chat, Contact Button 50K+ · 5.0★ (23) wp.org #8 ↓1 5 too high 14 Weblizar Pin It Button On Image Hover And Post 10K+ · 4.0★ (64) wp.org #15 1 too low 15 Waitlist Woocommerce ( Back in stock notifier ) 4K+ · 4.6★ (113) wp.org #18 ↓1 3 too low 16 Fast Chat Button 1K+ · 4.9★ (7) wp.org #14 ↓1 2 too high 17 MakeITeasy Back To Top 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #6 ↓1 11 too high 18 Back and Forward Button 200+ · 3.8★ (4) wp.org #9 ↑2 9 too high 19 Beam me up Scotty – Back to Top Button 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #13 ↓1 6 too high 20 NS Smooth Scroll Back to Top 100+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #20 21 Instant Back/Forward 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↓3 10 too high 22 EU Withdrawal Button for WooCommerce 500+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 Button Group 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 ↑1 2 too high 24 Sticky Elementor – Sticky Header, Menu Color After Sticky, Logo Swap & Back to Top Button 600+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 1 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.