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

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 display”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

Smart Custom Display Name shows at wp.org #5 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Custom Twitter Feeds – A Tweets Widget or X Feed Widget places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 401 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) wp.org #1 2 Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Custom Post Type UI 1M+ · 4.6★ (276) wp.org #2 ↑3 1 too high 4 Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418) wp.org #4 5 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #7 ↑1 2 too low 6 Custom Sidebars – Dynamic Sidebar Classic Widget Area Manager 100K+ · 4.7★ (1028) wp.org #11 5 too low 7 ECS – Ele Custom Skin for Elementor 100K+ · 4.6★ (117) wp.org #8 ↑1 1 too low 8 Custom Fonts – Host Your Fonts Locally 400K+ · 4.3★ (62) wp.org #6 ↑1 2 too high 9 Secure Custom Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (69) wp.org #9 ↑4 10 WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1916) wp.org #17 ↑4 7 too low 11 Custom Twitter Feeds – A Tweets Widget or X Feed Widget 100K+ · 4.8★ (401) wp.org #19 ↑3 8 too low 12 Meta Field Block – Display Custom Fields for ACF, Meta Box and More 10K+ · 5.0★ (57) wp.org #10 2 too high 13 Product Addons for Woocommerce – Product Options with Custom Fields 30K+ · 4.9★ (474) wp.org #22 ↓6 9 too low 14 Variation Price Display Range for WooCommerce 9K+ · 5.0★ (43) wp.org #15 ↑3 1 too low 15 Smart Custom Display Name 200+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #5 ↑1 10 too high 16 Skyboot Custom Icons for Elementor – Elementor Icons library – 14300+ Icons 200K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #14 ↓2 2 too high 17 W WP Display Header 7K+ · 4.5★ (27) wp.org #12 ↑2 5 too high 18 List Custom Taxonomy Widget 8K+ · 4.7★ (21) wp.org #18 ↑2 19 Custom Order Status Manager for WooCommerce 30K+ · 4.7★ (117) wp.org #23 ↓6 4 too low 20 Custom Order Numbers for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.2★ (25) wp.org #13 ↑2 7 too high 21 Display Post Types – Post Grid, post list and post sliders 8K+ · 5.0★ (26) wp.org #21 ↑3 22 Custom Field Template 30K+ · 4.0★ (24) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 Magical Posts Display – Elementor Advanced Posts widgets 3K+ · 4.4★ (10) wp.org #16 ↑3 7 too high 24 VK Post Author Display 10K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #20 ↑3 4 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.