wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “custom admin css”
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 “custom admin css”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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
Custom CSS Pro shows at wp.org #4 but places #10 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 7K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 15 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Simple Custom CSS and JS 600K+ · 4.4★ (104)
wp.org #1 2 
Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423)
wp.org #2 3 
Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440)
wp.org #3 4 
Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588)
wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too low 5 
Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418)
wp.org #6 ↑2 1 too low 6 
Admin Custom Login 10K+ · 4.6★ (388)
wp.org #7 1 too low 7 
WP Custom Admin Interface 30K+ · 4.7★ (160)
wp.org #8 ↑1 1 too low 8 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322)
wp.org #11 ↑1 3 too low 9 
Admin Menu Editor 300K+ · 4.6★ (312)
wp.org #9 ↑1 10 Custom CSS Pro 7K+ · 5.0★ (15) thin reviews
wp.org #4 ↑2 6 too high 11 
LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778)
wp.org #14 ↑2 3 too low 12 
ECS – Ele Custom Skin for Elementor 100K+ · 4.6★ (117)
wp.org #10 ↑7 2 too high 13 
WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1916)
wp.org #15 ↓4 2 too low 14 
Custom Sidebars – Dynamic Sidebar Classic Widget Area Manager 100K+ · 4.7★ (1028)
wp.org #18 ↑3 4 too low 15 
CSS & JavaScript Toolbox 10K+ · 4.8★ (84)
wp.org #13 ↑1 2 too high 16 
Custom Fonts – Host Your Fonts Locally 400K+ · 4.3★ (62)
wp.org #12 ↑1 4 too high 17 
Custom Taxonomy Order 50K+ · 4.8★ (96)
wp.org #20 ↑3 3 too low 18 
BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55)
wp.org #17 ↑5 1 too high 19 
FluentSnippets – High-Performance Code Snippets, Header & Footer Code, Custom CSS & PHP Code Manager 50K+ · 4.7★ (78)
wp.org #19 ↓1 20 
Post/Page Specific Custom Code 6K+ · 4.6★ (42)
wp.org #16 ↑3 4 too high 21 
Simple CSS 80K+ · 4.9★ (60)
wp.org #23 2 too low 22 
Skyboot Custom Icons for Elementor – Elementor Icons library – 14300+ Icons 200K+ · 5.0★ (22) thin reviews
wp.org #22 ↓2 23 
CodeKit – Custom Codes Editor 7K+ · 4.8★ (16) thin reviews
wp.org #24 1 too low 24 
Admin Custom Font 900+ · 4.5★ (13) thin reviews
wp.org #21 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.