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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “custom author”

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 author”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

Guest Author shows at wp.org #9 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 5K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 13 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 1916 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) wp.org #1 2 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too low 3 Custom Post Type UI 1M+ · 4.6★ (276) wp.org #2 ↑2 1 too high 4 Co-Authors, Multiple Authors and Guest Authors in an Author Box with PublishPress Authors 20K+ · 4.9★ (114) wp.org #4 ↑2 5 Custom Permalinks 100K+ · 4.1★ (116) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too low 6 Custom Sidebars – Dynamic Sidebar Classic Widget Area Manager 100K+ · 4.7★ (1028) wp.org #12 ↓1 6 too low 7 Molongui Authorship – Author Boxes, Guest Authors & Co-Authors for WordPress 10K+ · 4.7★ (158) wp.org #11 ↓1 4 too low 8 ECS – Ele Custom Skin for Elementor 100K+ · 4.6★ (117) wp.org #10 2 too low 9 WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1916) wp.org #17 ↓2 8 too low 10 Simple Author Box 90K+ · 4.3★ (115) wp.org #7 3 too high 11 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #14 ↑4 3 too low 12 WP Custom Author URL 5K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #5 ↓2 7 too high 13 WP Post Author – Author Box, Multiple Authors, Guest Authors & Custom Avatars 10K+ · 4.2★ (22) wp.org #8 5 too high 14 Custom Post Type Permalinks 200K+ · 4.8★ (71) wp.org #15 ↓2 1 too low 15 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #20 ↓3 5 too low 16 Author Avatars List/Block 4K+ · 4.8★ (32) wp.org #13 ↓1 3 too high 17 Guest Author 5K+ · 4.2★ (13) wp.org #9 8 too high 18 Skyboot Custom Icons for Elementor – Elementor Icons library – 14300+ Icons 200K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #18 ↓2 19 C Custom Upload Dir 5K+ · 4.4★ (25) wp.org #21 2 too low 20 W WP Author Slug 3K+ · 4.8★ (19) wp.org #22 ↓2 2 too low 21 Author Box WP Lens 900+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #19 2 too high 22 VK Post Author Display 10K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #16 ↓2 6 too high 23 Default Post Author 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 24 BBH Custom Schema – Add Custom JSON-LD to Your Website 900+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 ↓2

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.