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

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 share”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 2 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

Social Share Block – Help Visitors Spread Your Content Everywhere shows at wp.org #6 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Social Sharing Plugin – Sassy Social Share places #7 on merit, 4.8★ from 523 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 wp.org
1 AddToAny Share Buttons 300K+ · 4.7★ (1114) wp.org #1 2 Super Web Share – Native Social Sharing Button 2K+ · 4.9★ (29) wp.org #2 ↑2 3 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #4 ↑2 1 too low 4 Social Media Share Buttons & Social Sharing Icons 100K+ · 4.8★ (5333) wp.org #8 ↓5 4 too low 5 Social Share Icons & Social Share Buttons 10K+ · 4.9★ (1911) wp.org #5 6 Social Share for WooCommerce 3K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #3 ↓1 3 too high 7 Social Sharing Plugin – Sassy Social Share 100K+ · 4.8★ (523) wp.org #17 ↓1 10 too low 8 WP Socializer – Simple & Easy Social Media Share Icons 10K+ · 4.5★ (128) wp.org #12 ↑1 4 too low 9 WPZOOM Connect: Social Icons Widget & Block, Share Buttons & Click to Chat 90K+ · 4.9★ (144) wp.org #15 ↓1 6 too low 10 Share Buttons & AI-powered Summaries 1K+ · 5.0★ (16) wp.org #7 ↑1 3 too high 11 Social Share Buttons 1K+ · 4.8★ (28) wp.org #9 2 too high 12 Buttonizer – Social Media Share Buttons, Social Icons, & Social Feeds 40K+ · 4.8★ (396) wp.org #14 ↑1 2 too low 13 Fuse Social Icons 10K+ · 4.6★ (58) wp.org #11 2 too high 14 Cresta Social Share Counter 2K+ · 4.8★ (55) wp.org #19 ↓1 5 too low 15 Floating Social Share Icons and Social Share buttons – Next Previous Post Links – FL 200+ · 4.7★ (73) wp.org #16 1 too low 16 Buttonizer – Floating Menus, Sticky Buttons, & Popup Builder 70K+ · 4.5★ (151) wp.org #18 ↑2 2 too low 17 Float menu – awesome floating side menu 30K+ · 4.4★ (41) wp.org #21 4 too low 18 Superb Social Media Share Buttons and Follow Buttons 6K+ · 4.4★ (11) wp.org #13 ↓1 5 too high 19 Social Snap — Social Share Buttons & Click to Tweet 10K+ · 4.2★ (58) wp.org #24 ↓2 5 too low 20 Social Sharing Plugin – Kiwi 4K+ · 4.1★ (18) wp.org #22 ↑1 2 too low 21 Addonify Floating Cart For WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #20 ↓1 1 too high 22 Social Share Block – Help Visitors Spread Your Content Everywhere 2K+ · 4.3★ (3) wp.org #6 ↑1 16 too high 23 F12 Floating Menu, sticky menu for WordPress 300+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #23 ↑1 24 Easy Share Solution For WordPress 900+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 14 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.