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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “floating search”

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 “floating search”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 of the top 20. 3 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 #3 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 15 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

All-in-one Sticky Floating Contact Form, Call, Click to Chat, and 50+ Social Icon Tabs – My Sticky Elements places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 542 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Ajax Search Lite – Live Search & Filter 70K+ · 4.8★ (266) wp.org #1 2 Simple Floating Menu 10K+ · 5.0★ (38) wp.org #2 3 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #6 3 too low 4 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #4 5 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220) wp.org #9 4 too low 6 My Sticky Bar – Floating Notification Bar & Sticky Header (formerly myStickymenu) 100K+ · 4.9★ (1199) wp.org #12 6 too low 7 Floating Chat Widget: Contact Chat Icons, Telegram Chat, Line Messenger, WeChat, Email, SMS, Call Button – Chaty 300K+ · 5.0★ (1244) wp.org #15 8 too low 8 Ultimate Floating Widgets – Make popup sidebars 3K+ · 4.9★ (14) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 Floating Chat Buttons – Click to Call or Chat, Email 1K+ · 4.9★ (54) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #20 10 too low 11 WP Sticky Sidebar – Floating Sidebar On Scroll for Any Theme 10K+ · 4.9★ (153) wp.org #17 6 too low 12 All-in-one Sticky Floating Contact Form, Call, Click to Chat, and 50+ Social Icon Tabs – My Sticky Elements 40K+ · 4.9★ (542) wp.org #23 11 too low 13 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #19 6 too low 14 Buttonizer – Floating Menus, Sticky Buttons, & Popup Builder 70K+ · 4.5★ (151) wp.org #13 1 too high 15 Float menu – awesome floating side menu 30K+ · 4.4★ (41) wp.org #14 1 too high 16 Floating Contact Button for MAX and Telegram 1K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #11 5 too high 17 Floating Button – Easily Create Sticky, Fixed & Floating Buttons 4K+ · 3.0★ (15) wp.org #7 10 too high 18 Blog Floating Button 8K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 15 too high 19 Side Menu Lite – Sticky Floating Side Menu 7K+ · 4.0★ (12) wp.org #21 2 too low 20 F12 Floating Menu, sticky menu for WordPress 300+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #16 4 too high 21 Floating Cart Product For WooCommerce 300+ · 4.3★ (7) wp.org #18 3 too high 22 Floating Side Tab 600+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 14 too high 23 Sticky Buttons – Floating Buttons Builder 10K+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 Instant Search – Turn Search Into Sales 60+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24

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.