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← Rankings

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

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 tags”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 2 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 Blocks – Advanced Content Visibility Control for WordPress shows at wp.org #6 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.9★ average from 15 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 #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 1516 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Conditional Fields for Contact Form 7 100K+ · 4.8★ (166) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 C Conditional Menus 60K+ · 4.4★ (71) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 PixelYourSite – Your smart PIXEL (TAG) & API Manager 400K+ · 4.3★ (281) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1668) wp.org #7 ↑3 3 too low 5 Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445) wp.org #8 ↑1 3 too low 6 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #9 ↓1 3 too low 7 Disqus Conditional Load 3K+ · 4.5★ (64) wp.org #5 ↑1 2 too high 8 Conditional Fields for Elementor Form – Apply Conditional Logic 10K+ · 4.7★ (32) wp.org #3 5 too high 9 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #14 5 too low 10 WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1915) wp.org #12 2 too low 11 TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #15 4 too low 12 Widget Options – Advanced Conditional Visibility for Gutenberg Blocks & Classic Widgets 100K+ · 4.9★ (1516) wp.org #18 ↑1 6 too low 13 Block Visibility — Conditional Visibility Control for the Block Editor 40K+ · 4.9★ (108) wp.org #13 14 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #16 2 too low 15 Conditional Blocks – Advanced Content Visibility Control for WordPress 2K+ · 4.9★ (15) wp.org #6 ↑1 9 too high 16 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #19 ↓2 3 too low 17 PI Conditional cart fee / Extra charge rule for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.9★ (38) wp.org #11 6 too high 18 Ultra Addons for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (107) wp.org #20 2 too low 19 Dynamic Tags for Elementor 700+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #10 ↓5 9 too high 20 Metronet Tag Manager 20K+ · 4.8★ (8) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 Conditional Add to Cart for WooCommerce 600+ · 4.7★ (7) wp.org #17 ↑1 4 too high 22 Display During Conditional Shortcode 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 Conditional Payment Gateways for WooCommerce 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Conditional Shipping for WooCommerce: Restrict Shipping Options by Anything 300+ · 5.0★ (2) 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.