dashboard-widget.php

<?php

$loop  = new WP_Query( array(
	'posts_per_page' => 20,
	'orderby'        => 'meta_value_num',
	'order'          => 'DESC',
	'meta_key'       => 'shared_counts_total',
) );
if ( $loop->have_posts() ) {
	$posts .= '<ol>';
	while ( $loop->have_posts() ) {
		$loop->the_post();
		$shares = get_post_meta( get_the_ID(), 'shared_counts_total', true );
		$posts .= sprintf( '<li><a href="%s">%s (%s %s)</a></li>',
			esc_url( get_permalink() ),
			get_the_title(),
			esc_html( $shares ),
			esc_html( _n( 'share', 'shares', $shares, 'shared-counts' ) )
		);
	}
	$posts .= '</ol>';
}
wp_reset_postdata();