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

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 posts”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 5 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 #11 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 13 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

User Submitted Posts – Enable Users to Submit Posts from the Front End places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 913 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 signals wp.org

Lightweight Sidebar Manager 80K+ · 4.2★ (21) thin reviews wp.org #1 1 too high 3

Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails 100K+ · 4.8★ (215) wp.org #3 4

Custom Sidebars – Dynamic Sidebar Classic Widget Area Manager 100K+ · 4.7★ (1028) wp.org #6 2 too low 5

Sidebar Login 9K+ · 4.5★ (78) wp.org #4 1 too high 6

Advanced Sidebar Menu 10K+ · 4.5★ (37) wp.org #5 2 too high 8

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #10 ↑1 2 too low 9

Category Posts Block 40K+ · 4.5★ (79) wp.org #9 1 too high 11

User Submitted Posts – Enable Users to Submit Posts from the Front End 10K+ · 4.8★ (913) wp.org #17 6 too low 12

WP Sticky Sidebar – Floating Sidebar On Scroll for Any Theme 10K+ · 4.9★ (153) wp.org #14 ↑1 2 too low 13

Delete Duplicate Posts 10K+ · 4.8★ (153) wp.org #15 ↓1 2 too low 14

Content Aware Sidebars – Fastest Widget Area Plugin 30K+ · 4.9★ (724) not PHP-current wp.org #24 ↓1 7 too low 18

Table of Contents Plus – Automatic Table of Contents for Posts & Pages 200K+ · 4.5★ (187) wp.org #21 3 too low 19

Hide Posts 20K+ · 4.7★ (22) thin reviews wp.org #12 7 too high 20

Flex Posts – Responsive Posts Block 2K+ · 5.0★ (24) thin reviews wp.org #16 4 too high 21

Genesis Simple Sidebars 10K+ · 4.4★ (27) wp.org #20 1 too high 22

Dynamic Month & Year into Posts 8K+ · 5.0★ (18) thin reviews wp.org #22 ↓1 23

SMK Sidebar Generator 10K+ · 4.4★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #11 ↓1 13 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.