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

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 networks sharing”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 4 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

Social Rocket – Social Sharing Plugin shows at wp.org #12 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 12 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Social Media Feather places #10 on merit, 4.6★ from 506 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 wp.org
1 Scriptless Social Sharing 10K+ · 5.0★ (70) wp.org #1 2 Social Media Share Buttons & Social Sharing Icons 100K+ · 4.8★ (5333) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Ocean Social Sharing 60K+ · 4.5★ (11) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 Social Sharing (by Danny) 2K+ · 5.0★ (68) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Simple Social Media Share Buttons – Social Sharing for Everyone 20K+ · 4.8★ (194) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 Social Share Icons & Social Share Buttons 10K+ · 4.9★ (1911) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 Hubbub Lite – Fast, free social sharing and follow buttons 30K+ · 4.7★ (173) wp.org #10 2 too low 9 Wp Social Login and Register Social Counter 70K+ · 4.6★ (67) wp.org #8 1 too high 10 Social Media Feather 10K+ · 4.6★ (506) wp.org #17 7 too low 11 WPZOOM Connect: Social Icons Widget & Block, Share Buttons & Click to Chat 90K+ · 4.9★ (144) wp.org #15 4 too low 12 NextScripts: Social Networks Auto-Poster 20K+ · 3.3★ (617) wp.org #7 5 too high 13 Social Sharing Plugin – Sassy Social Share 100K+ · 4.8★ (523) wp.org #20 ↓1 7 too low 14 Blog2Social: Social Media Auto Post & Scheduler 40K+ · 4.5★ (2107) wp.org #21 7 too low 15 Social Preview and Open Graph Tags 50K+ · 4.6★ (122) wp.org #19 ↑1 4 too low 16 Revive Social – Social Media Auto Post and Scheduling Automation Plugin 20K+ · 4.0★ (556) wp.org #22 ↑1 6 too low 17 Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery 300K+ · 4.3★ (4342) wp.org #23 ↓1 6 too low 18 Jetpack Social 30K+ · 3.3★ (74) wp.org #11 7 too high 19 Social Login, Social Sharing by miniOrange 10K+ · 4.6★ (356) wp.org #18 1 too high 20 Bit Social – Social Media Auto Poster and Scheduler 6K+ · 4.5★ (36) wp.org #14 6 too high 21 Social Sharing Plugin – Kiwi 4K+ · 4.1★ (18) wp.org #13 8 too high 22 Social Rocket – Social Sharing Plugin 1K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #12 10 too high 23 Sharing Image 600+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #16 7 too high 24 Social Post Flow – Social Media Automation, Scheduling, Scheduler, Posting & Auto Post 200+ · 4.2★ (10) wp.org #24

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.