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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “text share”

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 “text share”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Marquee Running Text shows at wp.org #11 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 5K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.6★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Social Media Share Buttons & Social Sharing Icons places #7 on merit, 4.8★ from 5333 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 wp.org
1 Simple Share Buttons Adder 40K+ · 4.3★ (627) wp.org #1 2 AddToAny Share Buttons 300K+ · 4.7★ (1114) wp.org #2 3 Image Alt Text 10K+ · 5.0★ (56) wp.org #3 4 Social Share Icons & Social Share Buttons 10K+ · 4.9★ (1911) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #7 ↑2 2 too low 6 Genesis Simple Share 10K+ · 4.4★ (33) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 Social Media Share Buttons & Social Sharing Icons 100K+ · 4.8★ (5333) wp.org #16 ↓6 9 too low 8 Social Share for WooCommerce 3K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 Super Web Share – Native Social Sharing Button 2K+ · 4.9★ (29) wp.org #8 1 too high 10 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #17 ↑1 7 too low 11 Highlight and Share – Unobtrusive and Lightweight Content Sharing 700+ · 4.9★ (29) wp.org #10 ↑1 1 too high 12 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #21 9 too low 13 Social Share Buttons 1K+ · 4.8★ (28) wp.org #15 2 too low 14 Share Buttons & AI-powered Summaries 1K+ · 5.0★ (16) wp.org #13 ↑1 1 too high 15 Animated Text Block – Add Typing and Looping Text Effects 4K+ · 4.8★ (5) wp.org #9 ↑7 6 too high 16 AI Alt Text Generator 2K+ · 4.9★ (7) wp.org #14 ↓7 2 too high 17 JVM Rich Text Icons 3K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #19 2 too low 18 ShareThis Share Buttons 10K+ · 3.5★ (26) wp.org #12 ↑1 6 too high 19 Share This Image 1K+ · 4.1★ (22) wp.org #20 1 too low 20 Marquee Running Text 5K+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #11 ↑1 9 too high 21 Text to Speech – TTSWP 200+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 Text Typing – grab attention with animated typing headlines 3K+ · 3.8★ (6) wp.org #23 ↓1 1 too low 23 Social Share Block – Help Visitors Spread Your Content Everywhere 2K+ · 4.3★ (3) wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too high 24 Easy Share Solution For WordPress 900+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 ↓1 6 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.