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← Rankings

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

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 scrolling”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

Admin Sticky Sidebar shows at wp.org #6 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 900+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Portfolio Filter Gallery – Photo Gallery places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 348 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Custom Sidebars – Dynamic Sidebar Classic Widget Area Manager 100K+ · 4.7★ (1028) wp.org #1 2 WP Sticky Sidebar – Floating Sidebar On Scroll for Any Theme 10K+ · 4.9★ (153) wp.org #2 3 Table of Contents Plus – Automatic Table of Contents for Posts & Pages 200K+ · 4.5★ (187) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Ultimate Floating Widgets – Make popup sidebars 3K+ · 4.9★ (14) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #11 ↓2 6 too low 6 Sina Extension for Elementor 40K+ · 4.9★ (35) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 Easy Table of Contents 600K+ · 4.4★ (221) wp.org #10 ↑1 3 too low 8 SimpleTOC – Table of Contents Block 10K+ · 4.9★ (77) wp.org #12 ↑1 4 too low 9 Portfolio Filter Gallery – Photo Gallery 20K+ · 4.8★ (348) wp.org #18 ↑1 9 too low 10 Gutenberg Essential Blocks – Page Builder for Gutenberg Blocks & Patterns 100K+ · 4.9★ (216) wp.org #17 ↑1 7 too low 11 Easy Accordion – AI-Powered FAQ & Accordion Blocks, Product FAQ 70K+ · 4.9★ (358) wp.org #19 ↑1 8 too low 12 All-in-One Sticky Anything – Click to Call, Fixed Widget, Sticky Header, Menu & Sidebar 1K+ · 4.9★ (15) wp.org #7 5 too high 13 Jeg Kit for Elementor – Powerful Addons for Elementor, Widgets & Templates for WordPress 300K+ · 3.8★ (79) wp.org #9 ↑1 4 too high 14 Simple Social Media Share Buttons – Social Sharing for Everyone 20K+ · 4.8★ (194) wp.org #21 ↑2 7 too low 15 Parallax Section Block – Add Parallax Scrolling Effects to Sections 3K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #4 11 too high 16 Joli Table Of Contents – Table of Contents with Gutenberg Block & Shortcode 7K+ · 4.9★ (43) wp.org #14 2 too high 17 CartSuite – Cart All In One For WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.5★ (51) wp.org #16 ↑1 1 too high 18 T4B News Ticker – Responsive News Scroller, Slider, and Animations 7K+ · 4.5★ (16) wp.org #15 3 too high 19 Vertical News Scroller 5K+ · 4.3★ (17) wp.org #13 ↓1 6 too high 20 Advanced Post Block – Display Your Posts Exactly How You Want 10K+ · 4.2★ (17) wp.org #20 ↑1 21 GutSlider – All in One Slider and Carousel Blocks for Gutenberg 6K+ · 4.9★ (14) wp.org #22 ↑2 1 too low 22 CatFolders – WordPress Media Library Folders & Categories 6K+ · 4.3★ (22) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 Admin Sticky Sidebar 900+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 17 too high 24 DesignSetGo 8K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #23 ↓1 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.