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

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 private”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

Share a Draft shows at wp.org #6 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.7★ average from 11 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

File Manager places #12 on merit, 4.6★ from 1492 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 User Private Files – Secure File Sharing and Client Portal Plugin 1K+ · 4.4★ (57) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots 10K+ · 4.8★ (142) wp.org #3 4 My Private Site – Make Your Whole Site Private, Force Login & Block Registration Spam 10K+ · 4.5★ (82) wp.org #2 ↓1 2 too high 5 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #10 5 too low 6 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1916) wp.org #12 ↓3 5 too low 8 Share Buttons & AI-powered Summaries 1K+ · 5.0★ (16) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 Polylang 900K+ · 4.7★ (3004) wp.org #14 5 too low 10 Buttonizer – Social Media Share Buttons, Social Icons, & Social Feeds 40K+ · 4.8★ (396) wp.org #9 ↑2 1 too high 11 Password Protected 300K+ · 4.4★ (142) wp.org #11 ↑2 12 File Manager 1M+ · 4.6★ (1492) wp.org #18 ↓2 6 too low 13 Force Login 30K+ · 4.8★ (101) wp.org #16 ↑2 3 too low 14 WP phpMyAdmin 40K+ · 4.6★ (58) wp.org #13 ↓1 1 too high 15 Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167) wp.org #19 ↑3 4 too low 16 Intranet & Private Site – All-In-One Intranet 3K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #7 9 too high 17 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #22 5 too low 18 FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995) wp.org #24 ↓1 6 too low 19 Share a Draft 3K+ · 3.7★ (11) wp.org #6 13 too high 20 Masteriyo LMS – LMS Course Builder, Quizzes & Certificates 6K+ · 4.8★ (184) wp.org #20 ↓1 21 HTML Social Share Buttons 50+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #15 ↑2 6 too high 22 YITH WooCommerce Wishlist 400K+ · 3.9★ (262) wp.org #23 ↑1 1 too low 23 Private Post Share 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↓2 6 too high 24 All Social Share – Sticky & Floating Share Buttons for WordPress 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 ↓1 3 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.