wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “social graph”

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 “social graph”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 2 plugins are 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

Open Graph Protocol Framework shows at wp.org #6 but places #14 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 15 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 7519 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Social Preview and Open Graph Tags 50K+ · 4.6★ (122) wp.org #1 2

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #2 3

TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #3 4

All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too low 5

WP Social Ninja – Embed Social Feeds, User Reviews & Chat Widgets 30K+ · 4.8★ (71) wp.org #8 ↑3 3 too low 6

Simple Social Media Share Buttons – Social Sharing for Everyone 20K+ · 4.8★ (194) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #7 1 too low 7

Easy Social Feed – All In One Social Feed Plugin for WordPress 30K+ · 4.6★ (502) wp.org #13 6 too low 8

Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #16 8 too low 9

Nextend Social Login and Register 200K+ · 4.9★ (446) wp.org #14 5 too low 10

Open Graph 10K+ · 4.3★ (13) thin reviews wp.org #4 6 too high 11

Hubbub Lite – Fast, free social sharing and follow buttons 30K+ · 4.7★ (173) wp.org #12 1 too low 12

SureRank SEO – Meta Tags, Social Preview, XML Sitemap, Schema & Open Graph 300K+ · 4.8★ (51) wp.org #10 ↓2 2 too high 13

Bit Social – Social Media Auto Poster and Scheduler 6K+ · 4.5★ (36) wp.org #9 ↓1 4 too high 14

Open Graph Protocol Framework 3K+ · 4.3★ (15) thin reviews wp.org #6 ↓1 8 too high 15

Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery 300K+ · 4.3★ (4342) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #20 ↓1 5 too low 16

OG — Better Share on Social Media 20K+ · 4.8★ (216) wp.org #22 6 too low 17

Blog2Social: Social Media Auto Post & Scheduler 40K+ · 4.5★ (2107) not PHP-current wp.org #23 ↑1 6 too low 18

Metricool – Social media and site statistics 90K+ · 4.4★ (23) thin reviews wp.org #11 7 too high 19

Social Media Auto Publish 5K+ · 4.7★ (345) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #19 ↑1 20

Buttonizer – Social Media Share Buttons, Social Icons, & Social Feeds 40K+ · 4.8★ (396) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #24 ↓1 4 too low 21

Always Use Open Graph with Jetpack 500+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #15 6 too high 22

Social Rocket – Social Sharing Plugin 1K+ · 5.0★ (12) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #18 4 too high 23

Branded Social Images – Open Graph Images with logo and extra text layer 800+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #17 6 too high 24

UsersWP – Social Login 2K+ · 3.3★ (4) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #21 3 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.