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

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 sidebar”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 of the top 20. 5 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

Floating Side Tab shows at wp.org #5 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 600+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP Chat App places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 222 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP Sticky Sidebar – Floating Sidebar On Scroll for Any Theme 10K+ · 4.9★ (153) wp.org #1 2 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 My Sticky Bar – Floating Notification Bar & Sticky Header (formerly myStickymenu) 100K+ · 4.9★ (1199) wp.org #8 ↓2 5 too low 4 Ultimate Floating Widgets – Make popup sidebars 3K+ · 4.9★ (14) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 Content Aware Sidebars – Fastest Widget Area Plugin 30K+ · 4.9★ (724) wp.org #6 ↑6 1 too low 6 Fuse Social Icons 10K+ · 4.6★ (58) wp.org #3 3 too high 7 Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads 300K+ · 4.9★ (2433) wp.org #11 ↑4 4 too low 8 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #15 ↓1 7 too low 9 Sticky Menu & Sticky Header 90K+ · 4.7★ (763) wp.org #17 ↓1 8 too low 10 WP Chat App 100K+ · 4.9★ (222) wp.org #24 14 too low 11 Addonify Floating Cart For WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #7 4 too high 12 All-in-One Sticky Anything – Click to Call, Fixed Widget, Sticky Header, Menu & Sidebar 1K+ · 4.9★ (15) wp.org #12 ↓2 13 Popup Builder & Popup Maker for WordPress – OptinMonster Email Marketing and Lead Generation 1M+ · 4.3★ (821) wp.org #21 8 too low 14 Side Menu Lite – Sticky Floating Side Menu 7K+ · 4.0★ (12) wp.org #10 ↓1 4 too high 15 Floating Cart Product For WooCommerce 300+ · 4.3★ (7) wp.org #9 ↓1 6 too high 16 ChatHelp – Click to Chat Button, Chat to Order for WooCommerce & Floating Chat Form 2K+ · 4.4★ (9) wp.org #19 ↑3 3 too low 17 Superb Social Media Share Buttons and Follow Buttons 6K+ · 4.4★ (11) wp.org #20 ↑3 3 too low 18 WP CTA – Call Now Button, Sticky Button & Call to Action Builder 2K+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #13 ↓2 5 too high 19 Bolt CTA Button – Floating Call Button for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #14 ↓1 5 too high 20 Floating Side Tab 600+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #5 15 too high 21 Floating Action Button 900+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #18 ↑2 3 too high 22 Széchenyi 2020 Logo 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #23 ↑1 1 too low 23 Admin Sticky Sidebar 900+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↑3 7 too high 24 News Ticker – Floating Headlines & Sticky Alerts 100+ · 1.0★ (1) wp.org #22 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.