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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “css 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 “css button”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Blog Floating Button shows at wp.org #11 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 8K+ 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.

Buried gem

Floating Chat Widget: Contact Chat Icons, Telegram Chat, Line Messenger, WeChat, Email, SMS, Call Button – Chaty places #10 on merit, 5.0★ from 1244 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 Simple Custom CSS and JS 600K+ · 4.4★ (104) wp.org #1 2 SiteOrigin CSS 100K+ · 4.9★ (153) wp.org #2 3 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #3 4 CSS & JavaScript Toolbox 10K+ · 4.8★ (84) wp.org #4 ↑1 5 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #6 ↓3 1 too low 6 MaxButtons – Create buttons 70K+ · 4.9★ (1093) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 Hummingbird Performance – Cache & Page Speed Optimization for Core Web Vitals | Critical CSS | Minify CSS | Defer CSS Javascript | CDN 70K+ · 4.7★ (1488) wp.org #15 ↑5 8 too low 8 Smooth Back To Top Button 40K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #7 ↑4 1 too high 9 AddToAny Share Buttons 300K+ · 4.7★ (1114) wp.org #12 ↑1 3 too low 10 Floating Chat Widget: Contact Chat Icons, Telegram Chat, Line Messenger, WeChat, Email, SMS, Call Button – Chaty 300K+ · 5.0★ (1244) wp.org #22 12 too low 11 Buttonizer – Floating Menus, Sticky Buttons, & Popup Builder 70K+ · 4.5★ (151) wp.org #10 ↑1 1 too high 12 Simple CSS 80K+ · 4.9★ (60) wp.org #17 ↓2 5 too low 13 Button Block – Stylish buttons that get more clicks 5K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #5 ↑1 8 too high 14 WP Call Button – Easy Click to Call Button for WordPress 40K+ · 4.7★ (69) wp.org #20 ↓3 6 too low 15 Button visually impaired 10K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #19 ↑2 4 too low 16 GravityWP – CSS Selector 4K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #9 7 too high 17 Buttonizer – Live Chat, AI Chatbot, Call, Chat, Contact Button 50K+ · 5.0★ (23) wp.org #14 ↑1 3 too high 18 Add to Calendar Button 3K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #16 ↑2 2 too high 19 Quantity Plus Minus Button for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.4★ (30) wp.org #18 ↑2 1 too high 20 Back Button Widget 4K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 Bolt CTA Button – Floating Call Button for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #13 ↑1 8 too high 22 Add Chat App Button 2K+ · 4.8★ (13) wp.org #24 ↓1 2 too low 23 Blog Floating Button 8K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↑1 12 too high 24 Pulsating Chat Button 3K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 ↓1 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.