Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 plugin”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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 #13 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 10 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

Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 4358 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. 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 Business Directory Plugin – Easy Listing & Member Directories for WordPress 10K+ · 4.6★ (504) wp.org #4 ↑1 2 too low 3 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #5 ↓1 2 too low 4 Sidebar Login 9K+ · 4.5★ (78) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Custom Sidebars – Dynamic Sidebar Classic Widget Area Manager 100K+ · 4.7★ (1028) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 Ocean Custom Sidebar 20K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #2 4 too high 7 WP Sticky Sidebar – Floating Sidebar On Scroll for Any Theme 10K+ · 4.9★ (153) wp.org #7 8 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #9 ↑1 1 too low 9 Content Aware Sidebars – Fastest Widget Area Plugin 30K+ · 4.9★ (724) wp.org #11 2 too low 10 Advanced Sidebar Menu 10K+ · 4.5★ (37) wp.org #6 4 too high 11 Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4358) wp.org #17 6 too low 12 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267) wp.org #18 6 too low 13 GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708) wp.org #10 ↓1 3 too high 14 Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167) wp.org #15 ↑1 1 too low 15 GeoDirectory – WP Business Directory Plugin and Classified Listings Directory 10K+ · 4.8★ (716) wp.org #19 4 too low 16 Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #14 2 too high 17 CMP – Coming Soon & Maintenance Plugin by NiteoThemes 200K+ · 4.7★ (326) wp.org #21 4 too low 18 Genesis Simple Sidebars 10K+ · 4.4★ (27) wp.org #20 2 too low 19 Resizable Sidebar for the Gutenberg Block Editor 3K+ · 4.6★ (9) wp.org #12 ↑1 7 too high 20 Fuse Social Icons 10K+ · 4.6★ (58) wp.org #22 2 too low 21 Ultimate Floating Widgets – Make popup sidebars 3K+ · 4.9★ (14) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 Login Widget With Shortcode 5K+ · 3.8★ (29) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 SMK Sidebar Generator 10K+ · 4.4★ (5) wp.org #13 ↓1 10 too high 24 S Shortcodes in Sidebar 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 ↓1 8 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.