wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “social media popup”
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 popup”, 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
Bit Social – Social Media Auto Poster and Scheduler shows at wp.org #7 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 6K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.5★ average from 36 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 #12 on merit, 5.0★ from 1,527 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.
How this rank is calculated
Each plugin's merit score multiplies these inputs together: how recently it was updated, how current its "tested up to" WordPress version is, its install base (log scale, capped at 10 million), its support thread resolution rate, and a rating score. The rating score weights the star average by review volume against a sitewide prior, then scales it by the lower bound of the share of 4 and 5 star reviews. A plugin with 3.7 stars from tens of thousands of reviews can still outscore a 4.9 with a few dozen, because the small sample carries less certainty.
A health factor between 0.4 and 1.15 then adjusts that score for what wp.org's search can't see: PHP fatals or failed activations on a test install, PHP and WordPress compatibility, memory and page-speed footprint, suspicious review patterns, closure risk, and a large install base with very few reviews. Clean, adopted plugins earn a small lift.
A keyword ranking starts from wp.org's search order for the term, weighting each position by 1 divided by its place, then applies the merit correction and health factor above. Relevance to the keyword stays in the result, so the order can differ from the all-categories list on /best, which scores plugins with no search term.
Hover a row to see the main reason for its position.
Hustle – Email Marketing, Lead Generation, Optins, Popups 80K+ · 4.4★ (859)
wp.org #1 2 
Social Share Icons & Social Share Buttons 10K+ · 4.9★ (1,911)
wp.org #2 3 
Simple Social Media Share Buttons – Social Sharing for Everyone 20K+ · 4.8★ (194)
wp.org #3 4 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7,322)
wp.org #4 ↑1 5 
Social Media Feather 10K+ · 4.6★ (506)
wp.org #5 ↓1 6 
ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2,052)
wp.org #10 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 4 places below merit 7 
Feed Them Social – Social Media Feeds, Video, and Photo Galleries 20K+ · 4.7★ (639)
wp.org #12 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 5 places below merit 8 
Popup Box – Create Countdown, Coupon, Video, Contact Form Popups 40K+ · 4.6★ (82)
wp.org #8 ↑7 9 
Widgets for Social Photo Feed 10K+ · 4.7★ (28)
wp.org #6 wp.org ranks it 3 places above merit 10 
Easy Social Feed – All In One Social Feed Plugin for WordPress 30K+ · 4.6★ (502)
wp.org #13 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 3 places below merit 11 
WP Social Ninja – Embed Social Feeds, User Reviews & Chat Widgets 30K+ · 4.8★ (71)
wp.org #9 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 2 places above merit 12 Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1,527)
wp.org #18 wp.org ranks it 6 places below merit 13 
Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4,359)
wp.org #16 wp.org ranks it 3 places below merit 14 
Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3,224)
wp.org #20 wp.org ranks it 6 places below merit 15 Bit Social – Social Media Auto Poster and Scheduler 6K+ · 4.5★ (36)
wp.org #7 wp.org ranks it 8 places above merit 16 
Buttonizer – Social Media Share Buttons, Social Icons, & Social Feeds 40K+ · 4.8★ (396)
wp.org #17 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 17 
Popup Maker – Responsive popup, Exit Intent Pop up, Email Optins, Autoresponder & More 7K+ · 4.5★ (144)
wp.org #11 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 6 places above merit 18 
Spotlight Social Photo Feed 50K+ · 4.7★ (171)
wp.org #14 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 4 places above merit 19 
Popup Builder & Popup Maker for WordPress – OptinMonster Email Marketing and Lead Generation 1M+ · 4.3★ (822)
wp.org #15 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 4 places above merit 20 
Nextend Social Login and Register 200K+ · 4.9★ (447)
wp.org #22 wp.org ranks it 2 places below merit 21 
Social Feed Gallery 80K+ · 4.5★ (303)
wp.org #21 22 
Customer Engagement System – Popup Builder, Forms, CRM & Email Marketing Automation 9K+ · 4.5★ (340)
wp.org #24 wp.org ranks it 2 places below merit 23 
Inavii Social Feed – Live Social Proof Gallery 9K+ · 5.0★ (17) thin reviews
wp.org #19 wp.org ranks it 4 places above merit 24 
Social Rocket – Social Sharing Plugin 1K+ · 5.0★ (12) thin reviews
wp.org #23 wp.org ranks it 1 place above merit Merit ranking caps the install boost at 10M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted 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.