wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “posts on 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 “posts on sidebar”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 of the top 20.

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

SMK Sidebar Generator shows at wp.org #12 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 12 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.

Buried gem

User Submitted Posts – Enable Users to Submit Posts from the Front End places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 913 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 signals wp.org

Lightweight Sidebar Manager 80K+ · 4.2★ (21) thin reviews wp.org #1 1 too high 3

Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails 100K+ · 4.8★ (215) wp.org #3 4

Custom Sidebars – Dynamic Sidebar Classic Widget Area Manager 100K+ · 4.7★ (1028) wp.org #4 5

Sidebar Login 9K+ · 4.5★ (78) wp.org #5 2 too high 8

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #11 3 too low 9

Advanced Sidebar Menu 10K+ · 4.5★ (37) wp.org #6 3 too high 10

User Submitted Posts – Enable Users to Submit Posts from the Front End 10K+ · 4.8★ (913) wp.org #17 7 too low 11

Category Posts Block 40K+ · 4.5★ (79) wp.org #10 2 too high 13

WP Sticky Sidebar – Floating Sidebar On Scroll for Any Theme 10K+ · 4.9★ (153) wp.org #14 ↑1 1 too low 14

Delete Duplicate Posts 10K+ · 4.8★ (153) wp.org #15 ↓1 1 too low 15

Sticky Menu & Sticky Header 90K+ · 4.7★ (763) wp.org #21 6 too low 16

Content Aware Sidebars – Fastest Widget Area Plugin 30K+ · 4.9★ (724) wp.org #24 8 too low 17

Table of Contents Plus – Automatic Table of Contents for Posts & Pages 200K+ · 4.5★ (187) wp.org #22 3 too low 20

Hide Posts 20K+ · 4.7★ (22) thin reviews wp.org #13 7 too high 21

Flex Posts – Responsive Posts Block 2K+ · 5.0★ (24) thin reviews wp.org #16 5 too high 22

Genesis Simple Sidebars 10K+ · 4.4★ (27) wp.org #20 2 too high 23

Dynamic Month & Year into Posts 8K+ · 5.0★ (18) thin reviews wp.org #23 ↓1 24

SMK Sidebar Generator 10K+ · 4.4★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #12 12 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.