wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “facebook wall”

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 “facebook wall”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Simple Wall shows at wp.org #5 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 19 places. Its 70+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Element Pack Addons for Elementor – MCP & AI-Ready Elementor Widgets, Elementor Templates, Elementor Addons places #10 on merit, 4.7★ from 284 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Easy Social Feed – All In One Social Feed Plugin for WordPress 30K+ · 4.6★ (502) wp.org #1 2

Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #2 3

Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445) wp.org #6 ↓2 3 too low 4

Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #7 3 too low 5

GDPR Cookie Compliance – Cookie Banner, Cookie Consent, Cookie Notice for CCPA, EU Cookie Law 300K+ · 4.6★ (205) wp.org #8 3 too low 6

Social LikeBox & Feed 10K+ · 3.3★ (47) low rating, top placement wp.org #4 ↑1 2 too high 7

Robo Gallery – Photo & Image Slider 40K+ · 4.3★ (406) wp.org #11 4 too low 8

Nexter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder & AI Website Builder 9K+ · 4.8★ (90) heavy footprint wp.org #10 ↑10 2 too low 9

Spotlight Social Photo Feed 50K+ · 4.7★ (171) wp.org #13 ↓1 4 too low 10

Element Pack Addons for Elementor – MCP & AI-Ready Elementor Widgets, Elementor Templates, Elementor Addons 100K+ · 4.7★ (284) wp.org #17 ↓1 7 too low 11

GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #15 ↓2 4 too low 12

Juicer.io: Effortlessly embed, curate, and aggregate social media feeds into your website 8K+ · 4.2★ (29) wp.org #9 3 too high 13

Mitsol Social Post Feed 200+ · 5.0★ (5) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #3 10 too high 14

Youzify – BuddyPress Community, User Profile, Social Network & Membership Plugin for WordPress 5K+ · 4.8★ (194) wp.org #23 8 too low 16

Nelio Content – Editorial Calendar & Social Media Auto-Posting 3K+ · 4.4★ (104) wp.org #22 6 too low 17

Flow-Flow Social Streams 7K+ · 3.3★ (100) wp.org #14 3 too high 18

Reviews Widgets for Google & 45+ platforms by Repuso 1K+ · 4.8★ (25) wp.org #20 ↑1 2 too low 19

Walls.io: Social Media Feed 1K+ · 3.8★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #12 ↓2 7 too high 20

Video Gallery Block – showcase your videos in a filterable gallery 1K+ · 4.2★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #19 1 too high 21

Morada Nomade Content Wall — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #21 22

Flockler – Social Media Embeds for WordPress 500+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #18 ↓1 4 too high 23

Feedliyo Lite – Social Feed & Product Feed & Review Feed 200+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #24 ↓6 1 too low 24

Simple Wall 70+ · 3.0★ (1) thin reviewslow rating, top placement wp.org #5 ↑1 19 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.