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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “sharing buttons”

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 “sharing buttons”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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

Ocean Product Sharing shows at wp.org #4 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 20K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Chatway Live Chat – AI Chatbot, Customer Support, FAQ & Helpdesk Customer Service & Chat Buttons places #8 on merit, 5.0★ from 775 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Scriptless Social Sharing 10K+ · 5.0★ (70) wp.org #1 ↑15 2 Social Media Share Buttons & Social Sharing Icons 100K+ · 4.8★ (5333) wp.org #5 ↓4 3 too low 3 Simple Social Media Share Buttons – Social Sharing for Everyone 20K+ · 4.8★ (194) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 AddToAny Share Buttons 300K+ · 4.7★ (1114) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too low 5 Simple Share Buttons Adder 40K+ · 4.3★ (627) wp.org #10 5 too low 6 Social Sharing (by Danny) 2K+ · 5.0★ (68) wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too low 7 Ocean Social Sharing 60K+ · 4.5★ (11) wp.org #3 4 too high 8 Chatway Live Chat – AI Chatbot, Customer Support, FAQ & Helpdesk Customer Service & Chat Buttons 30K+ · 5.0★ (775) wp.org #16 ↑3 8 too low 9 Hubbub Lite – Fast, free social sharing and follow buttons 30K+ · 4.7★ (173) wp.org #13 ↓5 4 too low 10 Social Share Icons & Social Share Buttons 10K+ · 4.9★ (1911) wp.org #14 ↑3 4 too low 11 Super Web Share – Native Social Sharing Button 2K+ · 4.9★ (29) wp.org #9 ↑6 2 too high 12 WPZOOM Connect: Social Icons Widget & Block, Share Buttons & Click to Chat 90K+ · 4.9★ (144) wp.org #17 ↓10 5 too low 13 Robo Gallery – Photo & Image Slider 40K+ · 4.3★ (406) wp.org #18 5 too low 14 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #22 8 too low 15 Buttonizer – Social Media Share Buttons, Social Icons, & Social Feeds 40K+ · 4.8★ (396) wp.org #20 5 too low 16 Floating Chat Buttons – Click to Call or Chat, Email 1K+ · 4.9★ (54) wp.org #23 ↑1 7 too low 17 Buttonizer – Floating Menus, Sticky Buttons, & Popup Builder 70K+ · 4.5★ (151) wp.org #19 ↑2 2 too low 18 ShareThis Share Buttons 10K+ · 3.5★ (26) wp.org #8 ↑1 10 too high 19 Ocean Product Sharing 20K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #4 15 too high 20 Sticky Buttons – Floating Buttons Builder 10K+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #11 9 too high 21 Social Rocket – Social Sharing Plugin 1K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #21 22 Sharing Image 600+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #12 ↑1 10 too high 23 PayPal Payment Buttons 500+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 SGS Social Sharing Buttons 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 ↑3 9 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.