Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “css customizer”

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 “css customizer”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Customizer Backup & Reset shows at wp.org #4 but places #9 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 7K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 15 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

YayMail – WooCommerce Email Customizer places #5 on merit, 4.8★ from 291 reviews, but shows at wp.org #10. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Customizer Export/Import 100K+ · 4.8★ (115) wp.org #1 2 Custom Login Page Customizer 50K+ · 4.9★ (476) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Custom Login Page Customizer 80K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 Simple CSS 80K+ · 4.9★ (60) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 YayMail – WooCommerce Email Customizer 50K+ · 4.8★ (291) wp.org #10 ↑2 5 too low 6 Colorlib 404 Customizer 5K+ · 4.7★ (51) wp.org #6 ↑1 7 LoginPress | wp-login Custom Login Page Customizer 200K+ · 4.8★ (1077) wp.org #12 ↓1 5 too low 8 Visual CSS Style Editor 30K+ · 4.1★ (90) wp.org #8 ↑1 9 Customizer Backup & Reset 7K+ · 4.2★ (15) wp.org #4 5 too high 10 Kirki – Freeform Page Builder, Website Builder & Customizer 400K+ · 4.5★ (81) wp.org #9 ↓3 1 too high 11 WebToffee eCommerce Marketing Automation – Email marketing, Popups, Email customizer 10K+ · 4.8★ (54) wp.org #7 ↑1 4 too high 12 Email Templates Customizer and Designer for WordPress and WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.6★ (133) wp.org #14 2 too low 13 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #20 7 too low 14 Adminify – White Label, Admin Menu Editor, Login Customizer 6K+ · 4.3★ (109) wp.org #18 ↑1 4 too low 15 Thanko Thank You Page Customizer for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.5★ (37) wp.org #11 ↓1 4 too high 16 Customizer Search 40K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #15 1 too high 17 Teydea Login Customizer – Custom Login Page, Branding & Styling 10K+ · 4.8★ (14) wp.org #21 ↓4 4 too low 18 Modular Custom CSS 400+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #13 5 too high 19 Multisite Custom CSS 100+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #17 ↑1 2 too high 20 L Live CSS Preview 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 4 too high 21 Loginfy – Custom Login Page Customizer 2K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #24 ↓1 3 too low 22 Berq Used CSS – Remove Unused CSS Automatically 70+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 3 too high 23 Hreflang Customizer 50+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 Simple Custom Code – Custom CSS, JS, and HTML, Visual CSS Customizer 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 1 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.