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

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 format”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

BBH Custom Schema – Add Custom JSON-LD to Your Website shows at wp.org #11 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 900+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Smash Balloon Social Post Feed – Simple Social Feeds for WordPress places #10 on merit, 4.7★ from 1511 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 Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418) wp.org #2 3 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #6 3 too low 4 Custom Fonts – Host Your Fonts Locally 400K+ · 4.3★ (62) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Custom Post Type Permalinks 200K+ · 4.8★ (71) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1917) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 WP All Export – Drag & Drop Export to Any Custom CSV, XML & Excel 100K+ · 4.5★ (415) wp.org #8 1 too low 8 Product Addons for Woocommerce – Product Options with Custom Fields 30K+ · 4.9★ (474) wp.org #10 2 too low 9 Use Any Font | Custom Font Uploader 200K+ · 4.7★ (1148) wp.org #12 3 too low 10 Smash Balloon Social Post Feed – Simple Social Feeds for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (1511) wp.org #19 9 too low 11 MB Custom Post Types & Custom Taxonomies 10K+ · 4.7★ (13) wp.org #5 6 too high 12 Custom Post Types and Custom Fields creator – WCK 10K+ · 4.7★ (97) wp.org #13 1 too low 13 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #22 9 too low 14 Table Field Add-on for ACF and SCF 50K+ · 4.9★ (60) wp.org #17 3 too low 15 Advanced Custom Fields: Extended 100K+ · 4.8★ (132) wp.org #21 6 too low 16 Custom Field Template 30K+ · 4.0★ (24) wp.org #9 7 too high 17 MetForm – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Conditional Forms, Form Templates & Custom Form Builder for Elementor 500K+ · 4.7★ (509) wp.org #24 7 too low 18 S Smart Custom Fields 50K+ · 4.9★ (21) wp.org #14 4 too high 19 C Custom Post Type Widgets 10K+ · 4.8★ (14) wp.org #16 3 too high 20 SEO Media Manager 5K+ · 4.8★ (18) wp.org #18 2 too high 21 Additional Custom Emails & Recipients for WooCommerce 2K+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 Custom Datepicker NMR 1K+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #20 2 too high 23 BBH Custom Schema – Add Custom JSON-LD to Your Website 900+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #11 12 too high 24 Custom Icons for Elementor and WPBakery 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 9 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.