wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “post 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 “post sidebar”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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

SMK Sidebar Generator shows at wp.org #10 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.4★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Lightweight Sidebar Manager 80K+ · 4.2★ (21) thin reviews wp.org #1 2

Sidebar Login 9K+ · 4.5★ (78) wp.org #2 ↑1 3

Schedule Post Changes With PublishPress Future: Unpublish, Delete, Change Status, Trash, Change Categories 100K+ · 4.5★ (172) wp.org #3 ↓1 4

Custom Sidebars – Dynamic Sidebar Classic Widget Area Manager 100K+ · 4.7★ (1028) wp.org #5 1 too low 5

The Post Grid – Shortcode, Gutenberg Blocks and Elementor Addon for Post Grid 100K+ · 4.8★ (265) wp.org #6 1 too low 6

Advanced Sidebar Menu 10K+ · 4.5★ (37) wp.org #4 2 too high 7

Smart Post – Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider Gutenberg Blocks for Blog & News 20K+ · 4.7★ (210) heavy footprint wp.org #8 1 too low 8

Public Post Preview 100K+ · 4.6★ (79) wp.org #7 1 too high 9

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #9 ↑1 10

WP Sticky Sidebar – Floating Sidebar On Scroll for Any Theme 10K+ · 4.9★ (153) wp.org #11 1 too low 11

Content Aware Sidebars – Fastest Widget Area Plugin 30K+ · 4.9★ (724) not PHP-current wp.org #13 2 too low 12

AnWP Post Grid and Post Carousel Slider for Elementor 20K+ · 4.9★ (84) wp.org #15 3 too low 13

Content Blocks (Custom Post Widget) 10K+ · 4.9★ (80) wp.org #16 ↓1 3 too low 14

Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails 100K+ · 4.8★ (215) wp.org #22 ↓4 8 too low 15

Table of Contents Plus – Automatic Table of Contents for Posts & Pages 200K+ · 4.5★ (187) wp.org #20 5 too low 16

W4 Post List 3K+ · 4.7★ (94) wp.org #19 ↓2 2 too low 18

Display Post Types – Post Grid, post list and post sliders 8K+ · 5.0★ (26) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #12 6 too high 19

Genesis Simple Sidebars 10K+ · 4.4★ (27) wp.org #17 ↓1 2 too high 20

Advanced Post Block – Display Your Posts Exactly How You Want 10K+ · 4.2★ (17) not PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #14 6 too high 21

SMK Sidebar Generator 10K+ · 4.4★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #10 ↓1 11 too high 22

Solid Post Likes 500+ · 4.8★ (9) thin reviews wp.org #21 ↓2 1 too high 23

Post Type Transfer 2K+ · 5.0★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #18 ↑3 5 too high 24

VK Post Author Display 10K+ · 4.5★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #24 ↓1

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.