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

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 html”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

Advance Custom HTML – Show Off Code Snippets with Live Preview shows at wp.org #7 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.5★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Product Addons for Woocommerce – Product Options with Custom Fields places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 474 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. 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 #4 2 too low 3 Simple Custom CSS and JS 600K+ · 4.4★ (104) wp.org #3 4 Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too low 5 Custom HTML Block Extension 7K+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #2 3 too high 6 Custom Post Type UI 1M+ · 4.6★ (276) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too high 7 WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1915) wp.org #9 ↑1 2 too low 8 HTML Forms – Simple WordPress Forms Plugin 10K+ · 4.9★ (57) wp.org #10 ↑1 2 too low 9 ECS – Ele Custom Skin for Elementor 100K+ · 4.6★ (117) wp.org #11 ↑8 2 too low 10 Product Addons for Woocommerce – Product Options with Custom Fields 30K+ · 4.9★ (474) wp.org #20 ↓2 10 too low 11 HTML Editor Syntax Highlighter 60K+ · 4.4★ (110) wp.org #14 3 too low 12 Secure Custom Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (69) wp.org #12 ↓3 13 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #13 14 Gallery Custom Links 30K+ · 4.7★ (208) wp.org #22 ↓8 8 too low 15 Custom Taxonomy Order 50K+ · 4.8★ (96) wp.org #19 ↓2 4 too low 16 Custom Post Type Permalinks 200K+ · 4.8★ (71) wp.org #17 ↓1 1 too low 17 Email Template Designer – WP HTML Mail 20K+ · 4.8★ (87) wp.org #21 ↓9 4 too low 18 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #24 ↓1 6 too low 19 HTML Page Sitemap (Block and Shortcode) 10K+ · 4.4★ (24) wp.org #16 ↓1 3 too high 20 Kwayy HTML Sitemap 6K+ · 4.7★ (18) wp.org #15 ↓2 5 too high 21 CodeKit – Custom Codes Editor 7K+ · 4.8★ (16) wp.org #18 ↑3 3 too high 22 D Display HTML Sitemap 1K+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #23 ↓3 1 too low 23 Header Footer Custom Html 1K+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #8 15 too high 24 Advance Custom HTML – Show Off Code Snippets with Live Preview 10K+ · 2.5★ (4) wp.org #7 17 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.