wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “change checkbox to radio button.”
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 “change checkbox to radio button.”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 4 of the top 20.
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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.
Ranked above its merit
Redux Framework shows at wp.org #10 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 900K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.4★ average from 273 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
How this rank is calculated
Each plugin's merit score multiplies these inputs together: how recently it was updated, how current its "tested up to" WordPress version is, its install base (log scale, capped at 10 million), its support thread resolution rate, and a rating score. The rating score weights the star average by review volume against a sitewide prior, then scales it by the lower bound of the share of 4 and 5 star reviews. A plugin with 3.7 stars from tens of thousands of reviews can still outscore a 4.9 with a few dozen, because the small sample carries less certainty.
A health factor between 0.4 and 1.15 then adjusts that score for what wp.org's search can't see: PHP fatals or failed activations on a test install, PHP and WordPress compatibility, memory and page-speed footprint, suspicious review patterns, closure risk, and a large install base with very few reviews. Clean, adopted plugins earn a small lift.
A keyword ranking starts from wp.org's search order for the term, weighting each position by 1 divided by its place, then applies the merit correction and health factor above. Relevance to the keyword stays in the result, so the order can differ from the all-categories list on /best, which scores plugins with no search term.
Hover a row to see the main reason for its position.
Variation Swatches for WooCommerce 300K+ · 4.8★ (926)
wp.org #3 wp.org ranks it 2 places below merit 2 
Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612)
wp.org #4 wp.org ranks it 2 places below merit 3 
Checkout Field Editor (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce 400K+ · 4.9★ (1,056)
wp.org #5 wp.org ranks it 2 places below merit 4 
Radio Station by netmix® – Manage and play your Show Schedule in WordPress! 1K+ · 4.6★ (30)
wp.org #2 wp.org ranks it 2 places above merit 5 
Select All Categories and Taxonomies, Change Checkbox to Radio Buttons 3K+ · 4.3★ (12) thin reviews
wp.org #1 wp.org ranks it 4 places above merit 6 
Checkout Field Manager (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.5★ (784)
wp.org #6 7 
MP3 Audio Player – Music Player, Podcast Player & Radio by Sonaar 20K+ · 4.8★ (302)
wp.org #8 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 8 
Advanced Custom Fields: Extended 100K+ · 4.8★ (132)
wp.org #7 wp.org ranks it 1 place above merit 9 
Gravity Booster – Styles & Layouts for Gravity Forms 30K+ · 4.6★ (199)
wp.org #9 10 
Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1,398)
wp.org #11 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 11 
HUSKY – Products Filter for WooCommerce Professional. MCP is onboard 80K+ · 4.6★ (337)
wp.org #12 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 12 
Product Filter for WooCommerce by WBW 50K+ · 4.8★ (325)
wp.org #13 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 13 
Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418)
wp.org #14 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 14 
Quiz Maker by AYS 20K+ · 4.9★ (601)
wp.org #17 wp.org ranks it 3 places below merit 15 Redux Framework 900K+ · 4.4★ (273)
wp.org #10 wp.org ranks it 5 places above merit 16 
Flexible Checkout Fields for WooCommerce – WooCommerce Checkout Manager 80K+ · 4.7★ (296)
wp.org #16 17 
Advanced AJAX Product Filters 50K+ · 4.7★ (387)
wp.org #18 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 18 
Cost Calculator Builder 20K+ · 4.5★ (393)
wp.org #19 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 19 
Meta Field Block – Display Custom Fields for ACF, Meta Box and More 10K+ · 5.0★ (57)
wp.org #15 wp.org ranks it 4 places above merit 20 
Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (808)
wp.org #22 wp.org ranks it 2 places below merit 21 
Flexible Product Fields (WooCommerce Product Addons) – WooCommerce Product Page Editor 10K+ · 4.5★ (106)
wp.org #20 wp.org ranks it 1 place above merit 22 
Meta Box – A Framework for Dynamic Websites 500K+ · 4.8★ (165)
wp.org #24 wp.org ranks it 2 places below merit 23 
WC Fields Factory 7K+ · 4.3★ (168)
wp.org #23 24 
Gravity Forms + Custom Post Types 10K+ · 4.4★ (46)
wp.org #21 wp.org ranks it 3 places above merit Merit ranking caps the install boost at 10M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted 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.