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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “acf block”

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 “acf block”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

WPGraphQL for ACF shows at wp.org #3 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 19 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Polylang places #10 on merit, 4.7★ from 3004 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) wp.org #1 2 Table Field Add-on for ACF and SCF 50K+ · 4.9★ (60) wp.org #2 ↑9 3 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #4 ↑3 1 too low 4 Block Visibility — Conditional Visibility Control for the Block Editor 40K+ · 4.9★ (108) wp.org #5 ↓2 1 too low 5 ACF Frontend Admin by DynamiApps 8K+ · 4.5★ (160) wp.org #6 ↑7 1 too low 6 Advanced Custom Fields: Extended 100K+ · 4.8★ (132) wp.org #10 ↓5 4 too low 7 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #9 ↑3 2 too low 8 Meta Field Block – Display Custom Fields for ACF, Meta Box and More 10K+ · 5.0★ (57) wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too high 9 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #14 ↓4 5 too low 10 Polylang 900K+ · 4.7★ (3004) wp.org #20 ↑3 10 too low 11 Nexter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder & AI Website Builder 9K+ · 4.8★ (90) wp.org #13 ↑3 2 too low 12 Gutenberg Essential Blocks – Page Builder for Gutenberg Blocks & Patterns 100K+ · 4.9★ (216) wp.org #16 ↑3 4 too low 13 Blocks for ACF Fields — Display Custom Fields in the Block Editor 2K+ · 4.9★ (13) wp.org #8 ↓6 5 too high 14 ACF Content Analysis for Yoast SEO 100K+ · 4.1★ (35) wp.org #12 ↓3 2 too high 15 SVG Block 4K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #11 ↓3 4 too high 16 Advanced Views – Display Framework – Gutenberg/Elementor/Shortcode 3K+ · 4.8★ (36) wp.org #23 ↑1 7 too low 17 Embed YouTube Block – Fast Loading Videos, Shorts & Playlists 6K+ · 5.0★ (16) wp.org #18 1 too low 18 Breadcrumb Block 2K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #19 ↓2 1 too low 19 WP Map Block – Google Maps, OpenStreetMap, Mapbox, Store & Shop Locator, Directory, Listings & Filters 20K+ · 4.0★ (20) wp.org #24 5 too low 20 Counting Number Block 2K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 ACF Field For CF7 10K+ · 4.7★ (11) wp.org #17 ↓2 4 too high 22 WPGraphQL for ACF 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 ↑1 19 too high 23 Dynamic ACF Repeater for Elementor 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #15 ↓1 8 too high 24 Flexible Layout Preview Image for ACF 800+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 2 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.