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

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 fields comments”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 5 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.

S

Ranked above its merit

Smart Custom Fields shows at wp.org #4 but places #9 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 50K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.9★ average from 21 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 #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 401 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. 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 Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418) wp.org #2 3 Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588) wp.org #5 ↑1 2 too low 4 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #7 3 too low 5 Secure Custom Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (69) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 Custom Permalinks 100K+ · 4.1★ (116) wp.org #6 ↓1 7 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #10 3 too low 8 WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1916) wp.org #11 3 too low 9 S Smart Custom Fields 50K+ · 4.9★ (21) wp.org #4 5 too high 10 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #9 1 too high 11 Comments – wpDiscuz 60K+ · 4.7★ (581) wp.org #8 3 too high 12 Custom Twitter Feeds – A Tweets Widget or X Feed Widget 100K+ · 4.8★ (401) wp.org #16 4 too low 13 Smash Balloon Social Post Feed – Simple Social Feeds for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (1511) wp.org #20 ↑1 7 too low 14 Gallery Custom Links 30K+ · 4.7★ (208) wp.org #15 ↓1 1 too low 15 WC Fields Factory 7K+ · 4.3★ (168) wp.org #12 3 too high 16 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #21 ↑1 5 too low 17 Comments Like Dislike 4K+ · 4.6★ (38) wp.org #14 ↓1 3 too high 18 ActiveLayer Anti-Spam: Spam Protection for Forms & Comments 10K+ · 4.9★ (10) wp.org #13 ↑5 5 too high 19 B BuddyPress Xprofile Custom Field Types 3K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #17 ↓2 2 too high 20 CodeKit – Custom Codes Editor 7K+ · 4.8★ (16) wp.org #18 ↑2 2 too high 21 Comments Extra Fields For Post,Pages and CPT 500+ · 4.2★ (9) wp.org #19 2 too high 22 Comment Link Remove and Other Comment Tools 8K+ · 4.1★ (15) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 FluentComments – AJAX Comments, Anti-Spam & Comment Email Notifications 700+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #23 24 C Custom Metadata Manager 700+ · 4.4★ (5) wp.org #22 2 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.