Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “fb comments”

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 “fb comments”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

Mitsol Social Post Feed shows at wp.org #10 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

iubenda | All-in-one Compliance for GDPR / CCPA Cookie Consent + more places #9 on merit, 4.7★ from 397 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Genial Comments 4K+ · 4.8★ (20) wp.org #1 2 Social comments by WpDevArt 7K+ · 4.3★ (42) wp.org #2 3 FluentCRM – Email Newsletter, Automation, Email Marketing, Email Campaigns, Optins, Leads, and CRM Solution 80K+ · 4.8★ (250) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Lazy Social Comments 900+ · 4.5★ (19) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Social Comments by Heateor 600+ · 4.7★ (23) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Advanced Queries 10K+ · 4.9★ (40) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 WP Recipe Maker 50K+ · 5.0★ (356) wp.org #12 5 too low 8 Product Options and Price Calculation Formulas for WooCommerce – Uni CPO 1K+ · 4.6★ (79) wp.org #6 2 too high 9 iubenda | All-in-one Compliance for GDPR / CCPA Cookie Consent + more 200K+ · 4.7★ (397) wp.org #15 6 too low 10 WP Socializer – Simple & Easy Social Media Share Icons 10K+ · 4.5★ (128) wp.org #13 3 too low 11 Social Like Box and Page by WpDevArt 5K+ · 4.2★ (88) wp.org #9 2 too high 12 Easy Social Like Box – Popup – Sidebar Widget 6K+ · 4.4★ (18) wp.org #8 4 too high 13 Bit Social – Social Media Auto Poster and Scheduler 6K+ · 4.5★ (36) wp.org #18 5 too low 14 Flow-Flow Social Streams 7K+ · 3.3★ (100) wp.org #16 2 too low 15 Showeblogin Social Plugin 400+ · 4.9★ (50) wp.org #17 2 too low 16 Social Login 4K+ · 4.3★ (366) wp.org #23 ↑1 7 too low 17 W WP Social AutoConnect 400+ · 4.4★ (13) wp.org #11 6 too high 18 A Access Areas for WordPress 400+ · 4.5★ (17) wp.org #21 ↑1 3 too low 19 Mitsol Social Post Feed 200+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #10 9 too high 20 S Saitama Addon Pack 1K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 6 too high 21 FICTBASE 40+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 Social Buttons Pack by BestWebSoft 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 2 too high 23 FBS Activity Tracker — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 4 too high 24 ChatBot for Social Media 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↑1 2 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.