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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “style 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 “style sharing”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 17 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

Ocean Product Sharing shows at wp.org #3 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 19 places. Its 20K+ 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

Social Media Share Buttons & Social Sharing Icons places #2 on merit, 4.8★ from 5333 reviews, but shows at wp.org #6. 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 #6 ↑1 4 too low 3 Social Sharing (by Danny) 2K+ · 5.0★ (68) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery 300K+ · 4.3★ (4342) wp.org #7 ↑1 3 too low 5 Ocean Social Sharing 60K+ · 4.5★ (11) wp.org #2 3 too high 6 Hubbub Lite – Fast, free social sharing and follow buttons 30K+ · 4.7★ (173) wp.org #9 ↑1 3 too low 7 Robo Gallery – Photo & Image Slider 40K+ · 4.3★ (406) wp.org #10 ↑1 3 too low 8 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #11 ↑2 3 too low 9 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #12 ↑4 3 too low 10 Social Sharing Block 7K+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #5 ↑1 5 too high 11 Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4358) wp.org #15 ↓3 4 too low 12 Simple Social Media Share Buttons – Social Sharing for Everyone 20K+ · 4.8★ (194) wp.org #8 ↑1 4 too high 13 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #16 ↓11 3 too low 14 AddToAny Share Buttons 300K+ · 4.7★ (1114) wp.org #17 3 too low 15 Firelight Lightbox 200K+ · 4.8★ (361) wp.org #24 9 too low 16 Otter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder for Gutenberg Editor & FSE 300K+ · 4.7★ (251) wp.org #19 ↑2 3 too low 17 My Calendar – Accessible Event Manager 20K+ · 4.7★ (159) wp.org #22 ↓2 5 too low 18 MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) wp.org #23 ↓5 5 too low 19 Super Web Share – Native Social Sharing Button 2K+ · 4.9★ (29) wp.org #13 ↑1 6 too high 20 Highlight and Share – Unobtrusive and Lightweight Content Sharing 700+ · 4.9★ (29) wp.org #20 ↑2 21 Social Sharing Plugin – Kiwi 4K+ · 4.1★ (18) wp.org #14 ↑1 7 too high 22 Ocean Product Sharing 20K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #3 19 too high 23 Social Rocket – Social Sharing Plugin 1K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #18 ↑1 5 too high 24 Better Sharing 20+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #21 ↑2 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.