Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 bar”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 4 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

ThemeHunk – Side Cart, Ajax Cart & Menu Cart for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #9 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 5K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 2433 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. 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 Modern Cart – WooCommerce Side Cart & Popup Cart 60K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #2 3 Admin Bar Editor – Toolbar Customization with User Role based access & Custom menus 3K+ · 4.4★ (24) wp.org #3 4 HashBar – Announcement, Notification Bar & Popup Campaign 9K+ · 4.2★ (38) wp.org #4 5 Menu Cart for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.6★ (99) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #12 6 too low 7 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #8 ↑3 1 too low 8 Float menu – awesome floating side menu 30K+ · 4.4★ (41) wp.org #6 2 too high 9 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #14 ↓1 5 too low 10 Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads 300K+ · 4.9★ (2433) wp.org #20 10 too low 11 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #19 ↑5 8 too low 12 Caddy – WooCommerce Side Cart & Free Shipping Bar 3K+ · 3.9★ (20) wp.org #5 7 too high 13 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #21 ↓3 8 too low 14 Free Shipping Label and Progress Bar for WooCommerce 5K+ · 5.0★ (43) wp.org #10 ↓1 4 too high 15 Depicter — Popup & Slider Builder 70K+ · 4.6★ (235) wp.org #17 ↑4 2 too low 16 CartPops – WooCommerce Side Cart, Cart Drawer & Cart Popup 4K+ · 4.2★ (26) wp.org #11 ↓1 5 too high 17 Notification Bar, Announcement and Cookie Notice WordPress Plugin – FooBar 3K+ · 4.8★ (10) wp.org #16 ↑1 1 too high 18 Events Search & Filter Bar for The Events Calendar 3K+ · 4.8★ (29) wp.org #22 ↓2 4 too low 19 StoreGrowth – Upsell, BOGO, Quick View, Direct Checkout & Side Cart for WooCommerce 2K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #13 ↑1 6 too high 20 Fast Cart – Ultralight Ajax Side Cart for WooCommerce 200+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #18 ↑1 2 too high 21 Instantio — Side Cart & One-Page Checkout for WooCommerce 700+ · 4.5★ (16) wp.org #24 ↓1 3 too low 22 Browser Address Bar Color 300+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #15 ↑1 7 too high 23 Skill Bars 300+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #23 ↓1 24 ThemeHunk – Side Cart, Ajax Cart & Menu Cart for WooCommerce 5K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 ↓1 15 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.