Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “side”

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 “side”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 6 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

Floating Side Tab shows at wp.org #6 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 600+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress places #12 on merit, 4.5★ from 155 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Side Cart Woocommerce | Woocommerce Cart 70K+ · 4.9★ (453) wp.org #1 2 Simple Side Tab 10K+ · 4.8★ (22) wp.org #2 3 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #9 6 too low 4 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #10 6 too low 5 Side Menu Lite – Sticky Floating Side Menu 7K+ · 4.0★ (12) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 Float menu – awesome floating side menu 30K+ · 4.4★ (41) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 WP Sticky Sidebar – Floating Sidebar On Scroll for Any Theme 10K+ · 4.9★ (153) wp.org #15 ↑3 8 too low 8 Modern Cart – WooCommerce Side Cart & Popup Cart 60K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #14 ↑7 5 too low 10 S Server-Side Cache AutoPurge 10K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #4 6 too high 11 Simple Custom CSS and JS 600K+ · 4.4★ (104) wp.org #19 ↓4 8 too low 12 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #22 ↓2 10 too low 13 Syntax-highlighting Code Block (with Server-side Rendering) 1K+ · 5.0★ (26) wp.org #20 ↑2 7 too low 14 CartPops – WooCommerce Side Cart, Cart Drawer & Cart Popup 4K+ · 4.2★ (26) wp.org #11 ↑1 3 too high 15 Caddy – WooCommerce Side Cart & Free Shipping Bar 3K+ · 3.9★ (20) wp.org #13 2 too high 16 Stape Conversion Tracking 10K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #8 8 too high 17 Sticky Side Buttons 10K+ · 4.5★ (40) wp.org #17 ↓1 18 Fast Cart – Ultralight Ajax Side Cart for WooCommerce 200+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #16 ↑1 2 too high 19 Instantio — Side Cart & One-Page Checkout for WooCommerce 700+ · 4.5★ (16) wp.org #21 ↑2 2 too low 20 StoreGrowth – Upsell, BOGO, Quick View, Direct Checkout & Side Cart for WooCommerce 2K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #18 ↑1 2 too high 21 Floating Side Tab 600+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #6 15 too high 22 Mini Cart for WooCommerce – Side Cart & Fast Checkout 600+ · 3.6★ (5) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 ThemeHunk – Side Cart, Ajax Cart & Menu Cart for WooCommerce 5K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↓1 11 too high 24 Pixelavo – Server Side Tracking & Pixel + AI Ads Tools 2K+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #23 ↑1 1 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.