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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “conditional loading”

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 “conditional loading”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Conditional Shipping for WooCommerce: Restrict Shipping Options by Anything shows at wp.org #11 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 300+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Conditional Fields for Elementor Form – Apply Conditional Logic 10K+ · 4.7★ (32) wp.org #1 2 Speculative Loading 70K+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #2 3 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #6 ↑1 3 too low 4 MetForm – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Conditional Forms, Form Templates & Custom Form Builder for Elementor 500K+ · 4.7★ (509) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Block Visibility — Conditional Visibility Control for the Block Editor 40K+ · 4.9★ (108) wp.org #5 6 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too low 7 Disqus Conditional Load 3K+ · 4.5★ (64) wp.org #4 3 too high 8 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #8 ↓2 9 Widget Options – Advanced Conditional Visibility for Gutenberg Blocks & Classic Widgets 100K+ · 4.9★ (1516) wp.org #12 ↓1 3 too low 10 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #10 ↑2 11 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #14 3 too low 12 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #13 ↑3 1 too low 13 Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418) wp.org #19 6 too low 14 WidgetKit for Elementor – Lightweight Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 7K+ · 4.5★ (35) wp.org #9 5 too high 15 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #20 5 too low 16 Flexible Checkout Fields for WooCommerce – WooCommerce Checkout Manager 80K+ · 4.7★ (296) wp.org #21 ↑3 5 too low 17 Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #17 18 OneClick Chat to Order 30K+ · 4.8★ (84) wp.org #18 19 We’re Open! 5K+ · 5.0★ (45) wp.org #24 ↓4 5 too low 20 Extensions For CF7 (Contact form 7 Database, Conditional Fields and Redirection) 5K+ · 4.9★ (8) wp.org #15 5 too high 21 Header Footer Script Adder 1K+ · 4.1★ (7) wp.org #16 ↓3 5 too high 22 Conditional Shipping for WooCommerce: Restrict Shipping Options by Anything 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #11 ↓1 11 too high 23 Dynamic Pricing and Discount Rules for WooCommerce 600+ · 4.0★ (13) wp.org #23 ↓1 24 Conditionally Load CF7 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 ↓1 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.