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

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 “sidebar”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

SMK Sidebar Generator shows at wp.org #7 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.4★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery places #9 on merit, 4.7★ from 616 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 Lightweight Sidebar Manager 80K+ · 4.2★ (21) wp.org #1 2 Custom Sidebars – Dynamic Sidebar Classic Widget Area Manager 100K+ · 4.7★ (1028) wp.org #4 ↓1 2 too low 3 Sidebar Login 9K+ · 4.5★ (78) wp.org #3 4 WP Sticky Sidebar – Floating Sidebar On Scroll for Any Theme 10K+ · 4.9★ (153) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too low 5 Ocean Custom Sidebar 20K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #2 3 too high 6 Advanced Sidebar Menu 10K+ · 4.5★ (37) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too high 7 Content Aware Sidebars – Fastest Widget Area Plugin 30K+ · 4.9★ (724) wp.org #11 ↑1 4 too low 8 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #13 ↑2 5 too low 9 Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #22 13 too low 10 Genesis Simple Sidebars 10K+ · 4.4★ (27) wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too high 11 Off-Canvas Sidebars & Menus (Slidebars) 1K+ · 4.8★ (38) wp.org #14 ↓3 3 too low 12 Resizable Sidebar for the Gutenberg Block Editor 3K+ · 4.6★ (9) wp.org #8 ↓1 4 too high 13 Ultimate Floating Widgets – Make popup sidebars 3K+ · 4.9★ (14) wp.org #12 ↓2 1 too high 14 WPB Accordion Menu – Collapsible Vertical Sidebar Responsive Mobile Menu – WooCommerce Category Accordion 10K+ · 4.4★ (54) wp.org #16 ↓2 2 too low 15 Easy Social Like Box – Popup – Sidebar Widget 6K+ · 4.4★ (18) wp.org #15 ↓2 16 All-in-One Sticky Anything – Click to Call, Fixed Widget, Sticky Header, Menu & Sidebar 1K+ · 4.9★ (15) wp.org #18 ↓1 2 too low 17 Fuse Social Icons 10K+ · 4.6★ (58) wp.org #19 ↓1 2 too low 18 SMK Sidebar Generator 10K+ · 4.4★ (5) wp.org #7 ↓1 11 too high 19 Login Widget With Shortcode 5K+ · 3.8★ (29) wp.org #21 ↓2 2 too low 20 S Shortcodes in Sidebar 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 ↓1 10 too high 21 SeeMax Resizable Editor Sidebar 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 ↓1 4 too high 22 Admin Sticky Sidebar 900+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓1 2 too low 23 Pretty Sidebar Categories 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 3 too high 24 Sidebar Content Clone 400+ · 1.5★ (4) wp.org #23 ↓3 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.