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← Rankings

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

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

Posts Like Dislike shows at wp.org #9 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 5K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 23 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 #11 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 #3 ↓1 1 too low 3 Custom Post Type UI 1M+ · 4.6★ (276) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too high 4 Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588) wp.org #6 ↑1 2 too low 5 Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418) wp.org #7 ↓2 2 too low 6 Simple Custom CSS and JS 600K+ · 4.4★ (104) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 Custom Permalinks 100K+ · 4.1★ (116) wp.org #5 ↑1 2 too high 8 WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1916) wp.org #11 3 too low 9 Custom Sidebars – Dynamic Sidebar Classic Widget Area Manager 100K+ · 4.7★ (1028) wp.org #15 ↑1 6 too low 10 Custom Fonts – Host Your Fonts Locally 400K+ · 4.3★ (62) wp.org #8 2 too high 11 Product Addons for Woocommerce – Product Options with Custom Fields 30K+ · 4.9★ (474) wp.org #20 9 too low 12 Custom Taxonomy Order 50K+ · 4.8★ (96) wp.org #16 ↑2 4 too low 13 Secure Custom Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (69) wp.org #12 1 too high 14 Comments Like Dislike 4K+ · 4.6★ (38) wp.org #10 4 too high 15 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #13 2 too high 16 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #23 7 too low 17 WP ULike – Like Buttons, Voting & Engagement Analytics 60K+ · 4.8★ (283) wp.org #24 7 too low 18 Posts Like Dislike 5K+ · 4.3★ (23) wp.org #9 9 too high 19 Like Button Rating ♥ LikeBtn 3K+ · 4.4★ (273) wp.org #14 ↑1 5 too high 20 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 Skyboot Custom Icons for Elementor – Elementor Icons library – 14300+ Icons 200K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #18 ↓4 3 too high 22 Easy Social Like Box – Popup – Sidebar Widget 6K+ · 4.4★ (18) wp.org #17 ↑2 5 too high 23 MB Custom Post Types & Custom Taxonomies 10K+ · 4.7★ (13) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 Custom Order Numbers for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.2★ (25) wp.org #19 ↓2 5 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.