wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “conditional select”
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 select”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 of the top 20. 5 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
Conditional Payment Methods for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #5 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Widget Options – Advanced Conditional Visibility for Gutenberg Blocks & Classic Widgets places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 1516 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Conditional Fields for Contact Form 7 100K+ · 4.8★ (166) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #1 2 C Conditional Menus 60K+ · 4.4★ (71)
wp.org #2 3 
WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1915)
wp.org #7 4 too low 4 
MetForm – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Conditional Forms, Form Templates & Custom Form Builder for Elementor 500K+ · 4.7★ (509) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #4 5 
Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445)
wp.org #9 ↓1 4 too low 6 
Conditional Fields for Elementor Form – Apply Conditional Logic 10K+ · 4.7★ (32) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #3 3 too high 7 
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387)
wp.org #13 6 too low 8 
Block Visibility — Conditional Visibility Control for the Block Editor 40K+ · 4.9★ (108)
wp.org #11 3 too low 9 
WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209)
wp.org #16 ↓1 7 too low 10 Widget Options – Advanced Conditional Visibility for Gutenberg Blocks & Classic Widgets 100K+ · 4.9★ (1516)
wp.org #19 ↓3 9 too low 11 
TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667)
wp.org #17 ↓3 6 too low 12 
Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807)
wp.org #14 ↓4 2 too low 13 
PI Conditional cart fee / Extra charge rule for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.9★ (38)
wp.org #8 ↑1 5 too high 14 
Conditional Blocks – Advanced Content Visibility Control for WordPress 2K+ · 4.9★ (15) thin reviews
wp.org #6 8 too high 15 
Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1668)
wp.org #18 ↑4 3 too low 16 
Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418)
wp.org #22 ↓4 6 too low 17 
Flexible Checkout Fields for WooCommerce – WooCommerce Checkout Manager 80K+ · 4.7★ (296)
wp.org #23 ↑1 6 too low 18 
Ultra Addons for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (107)
wp.org #20 ↓3 2 too low 19 
Conditional Display for Mobile – Mobile Detect Plugin 1K+ · 5.0★ (7) thin reviews
wp.org #10 9 too high 20 Conditional Payment Methods for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #5 15 too high 21 
Conditional Logic Emails, Fields, Redirect for Elementor Forms 2K+ · 4.3★ (12) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #12 9 too high 22 
Extra Fees for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.3★ (42) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #24 ↓3 2 too low 23 
Conditional Add to Cart for WooCommerce 600+ · 4.7★ (7) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #15 ↓2 8 too high 24 
Conditional Logic for Woo Product Add-ons 400+ · 4.0★ (4) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #21 ↓2 3 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.