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

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 “button phone”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

Lead Generation Contact Widget & AI Chatbot: Chat Button, Phone Call, Telegram, Email – SiteLeads shows at wp.org #2 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 10K+ 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

Social Media Share Buttons & Social Sharing Icons places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 5333 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Call Now Button – The Free Click to Call Button for WordPress 200K+ · 4.8★ (102) wp.org #1 2 Floating Chat Widget: Contact Chat Icons, Telegram Chat, Line Messenger, WeChat, Email, SMS, Call Button – Chaty 300K+ · 5.0★ (1244) wp.org #5 3 too low 3 Phone Orders for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (32) wp.org #3 4 WP Call Button – Easy Click to Call Button for WordPress 40K+ · 4.7★ (69) wp.org #4 5 Buttonizer – Floating Menus, Sticky Buttons, & Popup Builder 70K+ · 4.5★ (151) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Email Encoder – Protect Email Addresses and Phone Numbers 90K+ · 4.9★ (94) wp.org #8 ↓1 2 too low 7 Social Chat – Click To Chat App Button 200K+ · 4.9★ (696) wp.org #13 6 too low 8 Social Media Share Buttons & Social Sharing Icons 100K+ · 4.8★ (5333) wp.org #21 ↓7 13 too low 9 Buttonizer – Live Chat, AI Chatbot, Call, Chat, Contact Button 50K+ · 5.0★ (23) wp.org #7 2 too high 10 Chatway Live Chat – AI Chatbot, Customer Support, FAQ & Helpdesk Customer Service & Chat Buttons 30K+ · 5.0★ (775) wp.org #18 ↑1 8 too low 11 Button visually impaired 10K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #9 ↑1 2 too high 12 Chat Button & Custom ChatGPT-Powered Bot by GetButton.io 20K+ · 4.5★ (175) wp.org #14 ↑1 2 too low 13 OTP Login With Phone Number, OTP Verification 1K+ · 4.9★ (81) wp.org #12 1 too high 14 Country & Phone Field Contact Form 7 40K+ · 4.5★ (41) wp.org #11 3 too high 15 Lead Generation Contact Widget & AI Chatbot: Chat Button, Phone Call, Telegram, Email – SiteLeads 10K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #2 13 too high 16 WPZOOM Connect: Social Icons Widget & Block, Share Buttons & Click to Chat 90K+ · 4.9★ (144) wp.org #22 6 too low 17 Add Chat App Button 2K+ · 4.8★ (13) wp.org #17 18 Bolt CTA Button – Floating Call Button for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #10 8 too high 19 Animated Floating Chat Button 4K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #16 ↑2 3 too high 20 Fast Chat Button 1K+ · 4.9★ (7) wp.org #20 ↑1 21 Floating Button – Easily Create Sticky, Fixed & Floating Buttons 4K+ · 3.0★ (15) wp.org #19 ↑1 2 too high 22 Sticky Buttons – Floating Buttons Builder 10K+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 Phone Button 700+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 ↑1 8 too high 24 Mobile Call Buttons 600+ · 5.0★ (1) 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.