wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “googleplus facebook 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 “googleplus facebook share”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 10 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Wanapost Several Social Sharing shows at wp.org #13 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 10+ 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.

How this rank is calculated

Each plugin's merit score multiplies these inputs together: how recently it was updated, how current its "tested up to" WordPress version is, its install base (log scale, capped at 10 million), its support thread resolution rate, and a rating score. The rating score weights the star average by review volume against a sitewide prior, then scales it by the lower bound of the share of 4 and 5 star reviews. A plugin with 3.7 stars from tens of thousands of reviews can still outscore a 4.9 with a few dozen, because the small sample carries less certainty.

A health factor between 0.4 and 1.15 then adjusts that score for what wp.org's search can't see: PHP fatals or failed activations on a test install, PHP and WordPress compatibility, memory and page-speed footprint, suspicious review patterns, closure risk, and a large install base with very few reviews. Clean, adopted plugins earn a small lift.

A keyword ranking starts from wp.org's search order for the term, weighting each position by 1 divided by its place, then applies the merit correction and health factor above. Relevance to the keyword stays in the result, so the order can differ from the all-categories list on /best, which scores plugins with no search term.

Hover a row to see the main reason for its position.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Genesis Simple Share 10K+ · 4.4★ (33) wp.org #1 2

Shariff Wrapper 30K+ · 4.9★ (101) wp.org #2 3

JW Player for WordPress 1K+ · 3.8★ (29) wp.org #3 4

ShareMe 40+ · 3.8★ (5) closure risk thin reviewsstale but ranked wp.org #6 2 too low 5

Quoty 30+ · 4.6★ (9) closure risk thin reviews wp.org #14 9 too low 6 R Rigororus Social Share 10+ · 0.0★ (0) closure risk thin reviewslow rating, top placementstale but ranked wp.org #4 2 too high 7

Dadi Shal — · 0.0★ (0) closure risk thin reviews wp.org #16 1 too high 18

Wanapost Several Social Sharing 10+ · 5.0★ (1) closure risk thin reviews wp.org #13 5 too high 19 T TW Shortcodes 10+ · 0.0★ (0) closure risk thin reviews wp.org #19 20

Social Media Widget 300+ · 5.0★ (1) closure risk thin reviews wp.org #15 5 too high 21 P Privacy Share Buttons 10+ · 4.0★ (1) closure risk thin reviews wp.org #20 1 too high 22 F Floating Social Media Popout Buttons 10+ · 3.0★ (2) closure risk thin reviews wp.org #21 1 too high

Merit ranking caps the install boost at 10M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted 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.