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← Rankings

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

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 “share plugin”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Social Sharing Plugin – Kiwi shows at wp.org #13 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 4K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.1★ average from 18 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 1267 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. 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 Business Directory Plugin – Easy Listing & Member Directories for WordPress 10K+ · 4.6★ (504) wp.org #3 4 Social Media Share Buttons & Social Sharing Icons 100K+ · 4.8★ (5333) wp.org #10 ↓2 6 too low 5 Super Web Share – Native Social Sharing Button 2K+ · 4.9★ (29) wp.org #4 ↑2 1 too high 6 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #7 ↓2 1 too low 7 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #6 ↓2 1 too high 8 Social Share Icons & Social Share Buttons 10K+ · 4.9★ (1911) wp.org #9 ↑1 1 too low 9 Genesis Simple Share 10K+ · 4.4★ (33) wp.org #5 ↑2 4 too high 10 Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167) wp.org #12 ↑2 2 too low 11 Social Sharing Plugin – Sassy Social Share 100K+ · 4.8★ (523) wp.org #17 ↓1 6 too low 12 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267) wp.org #23 11 too low 13 Social Share for WooCommerce 3K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #8 ↑1 5 too high 14 Simple Social Media Share Buttons – Social Sharing for Everyone 20K+ · 4.8★ (194) wp.org #15 1 too low 15 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #19 4 too low 16 Social Share Button 1K+ · 4.1★ (17) wp.org #11 5 too high 17 Social Share Buttons 1K+ · 4.8★ (28) wp.org #20 3 too low 18 Share Buttons & AI-powered Summaries 1K+ · 5.0★ (16) wp.org #18 19 Plugin Groups 1K+ · 4.3★ (31) wp.org #16 ↑1 3 too high 20 Social Sharing Plugin – Kiwi 4K+ · 4.1★ (18) wp.org #13 ↓1 7 too high 21 ShareThis Share Buttons 10K+ · 3.5★ (26) wp.org #14 ↓1 7 too high 22 Share This Image 1K+ · 4.1★ (22) wp.org #21 1 too high 23 Social Share Block – Help Visitors Spread Your Content Everywhere 2K+ · 4.3★ (3) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Easy Share Solution For WordPress 900+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 ↑1 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.