wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “social media 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 “social media plugin”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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
Widgets for Social Photo Feed shows at wp.org #11 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.7★ average from 28 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager places #8 on merit, 5.0★ from 1525 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.
Social Media Share Buttons & Social Sharing Icons 100K+ · 4.8★ (5333)
wp.org #1 2 
UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706)
wp.org #2 3 
Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4358)
wp.org #3 ↓1 4 
Social Share Icons & Social Share Buttons 10K+ · 4.9★ (1911) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too low 5 
Social Media Feather 10K+ · 4.6★ (506)
wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too low 6 
Wp Social Login and Register Social Counter 70K+ · 4.6★ (67)
wp.org #4 ↓1 2 too high 7 
Easy Social Feed – All In One Social Feed Plugin for WordPress 30K+ · 4.6★ (502)
wp.org #12 ↓1 5 too low 8 Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1525)
wp.org #17 ↑4 9 too low 9 
Simple Social Media Share Buttons – Social Sharing for Everyone 20K+ · 4.8★ (194) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #8 ↓2 1 too high 10 
Social Media Auto Publish 5K+ · 4.7★ (345) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too high 11 
Scriptless Social Sharing 10K+ · 5.0★ (70)
wp.org #13 ↓1 2 too low 12 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #14 ↑1 2 too low 13 
Metricool – Social media and site statistics 90K+ · 4.4★ (22) thin reviews
wp.org #7 6 too high 14 
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 #15 ↓2 1 too low 15 
Feed Them Social – Social Media Feeds, Video, and Photo Galleries 20K+ · 4.7★ (639)
wp.org #23 ↓3 8 too low 16 
Bit Social – Social Media Auto Poster and Scheduler 6K+ · 4.5★ (36)
wp.org #10 ↓1 6 too high 17 
Spotlight Social Photo Feed 60K+ · 4.7★ (171)
wp.org #19 ↓9 2 too low 18 Widgets for Social Photo Feed 10K+ · 4.7★ (28)
wp.org #11 ↑3 7 too high 19 
Revive Social – Social Media Auto Post and Scheduling Automation Plugin 20K+ · 4.0★ (556)
wp.org #20 ↓3 1 too low 20 
WP Social Ninja – Embed Social Feeds, User Reviews & Chat Widgets 30K+ · 4.8★ (71)
wp.org #16 ↑7 4 too high 21 
Simple Social Icons 100K+ · 4.3★ (92)
wp.org #18 ↓2 3 too high 22 
Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408)
wp.org #22 ↓3 23 
Jetpack Social 30K+ · 3.3★ (74)
wp.org #21 ↓3 2 too high 24 
Social Media Icon Widget – Social Profile Links with Gutenberg Block 4K+ · 4.1★ (16) thin reviews
wp.org #24 ↓2 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.