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

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 post”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20.

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 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 #10 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 12 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

Content Aware Sidebars – Fastest Widget Area Plugin places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 724 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 signals wp.org

Lightweight Sidebar Manager 80K+ · 4.2★ (21) thin reviews wp.org #1 2

Sidebar Login 9K+ · 4.5★ (78) wp.org #2 3

Schedule Post Changes With PublishPress Future: Unpublish, Delete, Change Status, Trash, Change Categories 100K+ · 4.5★ (172) wp.org #3 4

Custom Sidebars – Dynamic Sidebar Classic Widget Area Manager 100K+ · 4.7★ (1028) wp.org #5 1 too low 5

The Post Grid – Shortcode, Gutenberg Blocks and Elementor Addon for Post Grid 100K+ · 4.8★ (265) wp.org #6 1 too low 6

Advanced Sidebar Menu 10K+ · 4.5★ (37) wp.org #4 2 too high 7

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #9 2 too low 8

Smart Post – Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider Gutenberg Blocks for Blog & News 20K+ · 4.7★ (210) wp.org #8 9

Public Post Preview 100K+ · 4.6★ (79) wp.org #7 2 too high 10

WP Sticky Sidebar – Floating Sidebar On Scroll for Any Theme 10K+ · 4.9★ (153) wp.org #11 1 too low 11

AnWP Post Grid and Post Carousel Slider for Elementor 20K+ · 4.9★ (84) wp.org #14 3 too low 12

Content Aware Sidebars – Fastest Widget Area Plugin 30K+ · 4.9★ (724) wp.org #22 ↑1 10 too low 13

Content Blocks (Custom Post Widget) 10K+ · 4.9★ (80) wp.org #15 2 too low 14

Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails 100K+ · 4.8★ (215) wp.org #18 ↑1 4 too low 15

Table of Contents Plus – Automatic Table of Contents for Posts & Pages 200K+ · 4.5★ (187) wp.org #19 ↑1 3 too low 17

Display Post Types – Post Grid, post list and post sliders 8K+ · 5.0★ (26) wp.org #12 5 too high 18

Genesis Simple Sidebars 10K+ · 4.4★ (27) wp.org #16 2 too high 19

Advanced Post Block – Display Your Posts Exactly How You Want 10K+ · 4.2★ (17) thin reviews wp.org #13 6 too high 20

Solid Post Likes 500+ · 4.8★ (9) thin reviews wp.org #20 ↑1 1 too high 22

SMK Sidebar Generator 10K+ · 4.4★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #10 12 too high 23

Post Type Transfer 2K+ · 5.0★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #17 6 too high 24

VK Post Author Display 10K+ · 4.5★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #23 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.