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

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 item”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 4 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

Item Lists for Elementor shows at wp.org #11 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) places #12 on merit, 5.0★ from 423 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 signals wp.org

Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) heavy footprint wp.org #1 2

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #2 3

Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588) wp.org #3 4

Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418) wp.org #5 1 too low 5

Custom Sidebars – Dynamic Sidebar Classic Widget Area Manager 100K+ · 4.7★ (1028) wp.org #7 2 too low 6

Custom Permalinks 100K+ · 4.1★ (116) wp.org #4 2 too high 7

ECS – Ele Custom Skin for Elementor 100K+ · 4.6★ (117) wp.org #6 1 too high 8

Product Addons for Woocommerce – Product Options with Custom Fields 30K+ · 4.9★ (474) wp.org #10 2 too low 9

Custom Twitter Feeds – A Tweets Widget or X Feed Widget 100K+ · 4.8★ (401) wp.org #12 3 too low 10

Custom Taxonomy Order 50K+ · 4.8★ (96) wp.org #9 1 too high 11

WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #8 3 too high 12

Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #19 ↓2 7 too low 13

Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882) wp.org #20 ↑2 7 too low 14

Smash Balloon Social Post Feed – Simple Social Feeds for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (1511) wp.org #24 10 too low 15

Advanced Custom Fields: Font Awesome Field 90K+ · 4.9★ (36) wp.org #14 ↑1 1 too high 16

Table Field Add-on for ACF and SCF 50K+ · 4.9★ (60) wp.org #18 ↑2 2 too low 17

WP Custom Admin Interface 30K+ · 4.7★ (160) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #15 ↓2 2 too high 18

Custom Post Types and Custom Fields creator – WCK 10K+ · 4.7★ (97) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #13 ↑1 5 too high 19 S Smart Custom Fields 50K+ · 4.9★ (21) heavy footprint thin reviews wp.org #16 3 too high 20

Custom HTML Block Extension 7K+ · 5.0★ (13) thin reviews wp.org #21 22

Item Lists for Elementor 1K+ · 4.2★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #11 11 too high 23

Custom Price for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.2★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #22 ↑1 1 too high 24

Menu Item Types 100+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #17 ↑2 7 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.