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

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

ShareThis Share Buttons shows at wp.org #9 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.5★ average from 26 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

MaxButtons – Create buttons places #8 on merit, 4.9★ from 1093 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Simple Share Buttons Adder 40K+ · 4.3★ (627) wp.org #1 2 AddToAny Share Buttons 300K+ · 4.7★ (1114) wp.org #2 3 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #3 4 Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588) wp.org #4 ↑1 5 Social Media Share Buttons & Social Sharing Icons 100K+ · 4.8★ (5333) wp.org #7 ↓3 2 too low 6 Social Share Icons & Social Share Buttons 10K+ · 4.9★ (1911) wp.org #5 ↑2 1 too high 7 Social Share Buttons 1K+ · 4.8★ (28) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 MaxButtons – Create buttons 70K+ · 4.9★ (1093) wp.org #19 ↓1 11 too low 9 The Post Grid – Shortcode, Gutenberg Blocks and Elementor Addon for Post Grid 100K+ · 4.8★ (265) wp.org #16 7 too low 10 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #18 ↓1 8 too low 11 Super Web Share – Native Social Sharing Button 2K+ · 4.9★ (29) wp.org #10 1 too high 12 Ultimate Post Kit – Elementor Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider & Blog Layout Widgets 30K+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #14 2 too low 13 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #20 ↑3 7 too low 14 Rate My Post – Star Rating Plugin by FeedbackWP 20K+ · 4.7★ (159) wp.org #15 1 too low 15 Social Share Button 1K+ · 4.1★ (17) wp.org #8 7 too high 16 Simple Social Media Share Buttons – Social Sharing for Everyone 20K+ · 4.8★ (194) wp.org #17 ↓1 1 too low 17 Genesis Simple Share 10K+ · 4.4★ (33) wp.org #13 4 too high 18 Share Buttons & AI-powered Summaries 1K+ · 5.0★ (16) wp.org #12 6 too high 19 Nobs • Share Buttons 3K+ · 4.7★ (93) wp.org #22 ↓2 3 too low 20 Weblizar Pin It Button On Image Hover And Post 10K+ · 4.0★ (64) wp.org #21 ↓2 1 too low 21 Buttonizer – Floating Menus, Sticky Buttons, & Popup Builder 70K+ · 4.5★ (151) wp.org #23 ↓2 2 too low 22 ShareThis Share Buttons 10K+ · 3.5★ (26) wp.org #9 13 too high 23 Button Block – Stylish buttons that get more clicks 5K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #11 12 too high 24 Buttonizer – Live Chat, AI Chatbot, Call, Chat, Contact Button 50K+ · 5.0★ (23) wp.org #24 ↓2

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.