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

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 dropdown”, 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

Custom Icons for Elementor and WPBakery shows at wp.org #11 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 14387 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 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #2 3 Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (587) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418) wp.org #4 ↓1 5 Custom Sidebars – Dynamic Sidebar Classic Widget Area Manager 100K+ · 4.7★ (1028) wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too low 6 ECS – Ele Custom Skin for Elementor 100K+ · 4.6★ (117) wp.org #6 ↑2 7 Country State City Dropdown CF7 5K+ · 4.9★ (30) wp.org #5 2 too high 8 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #12 ↓1 4 too low 9 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #19 ↓1 10 too low 10 Use Any Font | Custom Font Uploader 200K+ · 4.7★ (1148) wp.org #20 ↓1 10 too low 11 D Dropdown Multisite Selector 900+ · 5.0★ (19) wp.org #8 ↓1 3 too high 12 List Custom Taxonomy Widget 8K+ · 4.7★ (21) wp.org #10 2 too high 13 Category AJAX Filter – Posts, Custom Post Types & Product Filter 6K+ · 4.9★ (158) wp.org #23 ↓1 10 too low 14 Navigation menu as Dropdown Widget 2K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #9 5 too high 15 Custom Post Types and Custom Fields creator – WCK 10K+ · 4.7★ (97) wp.org #14 ↓1 1 too high 16 C Custom Post Type Widgets 10K+ · 4.8★ (14) wp.org #13 ↓1 3 too high 17 WP Custom Admin Interface 30K+ · 4.7★ (160) wp.org #22 ↓2 5 too low 18 Custom Payment Gateways for WooCommerce 8K+ · 3.8★ (21) wp.org #15 ↓1 3 too high 19 Custom 404 Pro 7K+ · 4.2★ (22) wp.org #16 ↓1 3 too high 20 Custom HTML Block Extension 7K+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 T Taxonomy Dropdown Widget 1K+ · 4.7★ (9) wp.org #18 ↓1 3 too high 22 BBH Custom Schema – Add Custom JSON-LD to Your Website 900+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 ↓1 5 too high 23 Custom Icons for Elementor and WPBakery 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 12 too high 24 D Display Product Variations Dropdown on Shop Page 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #24

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.