wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “wp sidebar”
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 “wp sidebar”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 3 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
WP Photo Album Plus shows at wp.org #10 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.7★ average from 199 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Custom Sidebars – Dynamic Sidebar Classic Widget Area Manager places #2 on merit, 4.7★ from 1028 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.
WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346)
wp.org #1 ↑1 2 Custom Sidebars – Dynamic Sidebar Classic Widget Area Manager 100K+ · 4.7★ (1028)
wp.org #6 ↑2 4 too low 3 
Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN 1M+ · 4.8★ (6053)
wp.org #7 4 too low 4 
Lightweight Sidebar Manager 80K+ · 4.2★ (21) thin reviews
wp.org #2 ↑1 2 too high 5 
Sidebar Login 9K+ · 4.5★ (78)
wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too high 6 
Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616)
wp.org #9 ↑1 3 too low 7 
Advanced Sidebar Menu 10K+ · 4.5★ (37)
wp.org #5 ↑1 2 too high 8 
Ocean Custom Sidebar 20K+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews
wp.org #3 ↑1 5 too high 9 
Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) heavy footprint
wp.org #8 1 too high 10 
WP Sticky Sidebar – Floating Sidebar On Scroll for Any Theme 10K+ · 4.9★ (153)
wp.org #12 ↓1 2 too low 11 
WP Chat App 100K+ · 4.9★ (222)
wp.org #13 ↓1 2 too low 12 
Hide My WP Ghost – Security & Firewall 100K+ · 4.5★ (373)
wp.org #14 ↑2 2 too low 13 
WP Table Builder – Drag & Drop Table Builder 50K+ · 4.8★ (681)
wp.org #18 ↓1 5 too low 14 
WP-Polls 40K+ · 4.2★ (136)
wp.org #11 ↓2 3 too high 15 
SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267)
wp.org #21 6 too low 16 W WP Photo Album Plus 10K+ · 4.7★ (199) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #10 6 too high 17 
WP Recipe Maker 50K+ · 5.0★ (356) heavy footprint
wp.org #17 ↓2 18 
WP-PostRatings 20K+ · 4.4★ (178)
wp.org #15 ↓2 3 too high 19 
WP Event Manager – Events Calendar, Registrations, Sell Tickets with WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.0★ (249)
wp.org #19 20 
PDF Invoices & Packing Slips for WooCommerce 300K+ · 5.0★ (1865) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #23 3 too low 21 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #24 3 too low 22 
WP Migrate Lite – Migration Made Easy 200K+ · 4.2★ (318) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #16 ↓2 6 too high 23 
WP-UserOnline 10K+ · 4.6★ (38)
wp.org #22 ↑2 1 too high 24 
SMK Sidebar Generator 10K+ · 4.4★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #20 ↓2 4 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.