wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “wordpress buttons”

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 “wordpress buttons”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 5 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

Sticky Buttons – Floating Buttons Builder shows at wp.org #16 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.7★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 4228 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #1 2

Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #2 ↓1 3

TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625) wp.org #3 ↓1 4

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #4 ↓1 5

WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too low 6

Hustle – Email Marketing, Lead Generation, Optins, Popups 80K+ · 4.4★ (859) wp.org #6 ↓1 7

BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) not PHP-current wp.org #5 ↓1 2 too high 8

MaxButtons – Create buttons 70K+ · 4.9★ (1093) wp.org #11 ↓1 3 too low 9

Simple Share Buttons Adder 40K+ · 4.3★ (627) wp.org #9 ↓1 10

WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #14 ↑1 4 too low 11

Call Now Button – The Free Click to Call Button for WordPress 200K+ · 4.8★ (102) wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too high 12

Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #12 ↑7 13

Simple Social Media Share Buttons – Social Sharing for Everyone 20K+ · 4.8★ (194) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #8 ↓1 5 too high 14

Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167) wp.org #15 ↑1 1 too low 15

AddToAny Share Buttons 300K+ · 4.7★ (1114) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #13 ↓1 2 too high 16

MC4WP: Mailchimp for WordPress 1M+ · 4.8★ (1497) wp.org #20 ↓3 4 too low 17

WP 2FA – Two-factor authentication for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (184) wp.org #18 ↑4 1 too low 18

FancyBox for WordPress 30K+ · 4.6★ (92) wp.org #17 ↓3 1 too high 19

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #22 ↓1 3 too low 20

Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) thin reviews wp.org #19 ↑5 2 too high 22

ShareThis Share Buttons 10K+ · 3.5★ (26) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #21 ↓3 1 too high 23

Sticky Buttons – Floating Buttons Builder 10K+ · 3.7★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #16 ↓3 7 too high 24

Safelayout Brilliant Buttons – WordPress Buttons 100+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #23 ↓3 1 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.