Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 script”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 3 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

CM Header and Footer – Add custom scripts and styles to your header and footer with ease shows at wp.org #8 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 1K+ 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

Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner places #12 on merit, 4.7★ from 1667 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. 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 #2 3 Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (587) wp.org #4 ↓2 1 too low 4 Custom Permalinks 100K+ · 4.1★ (116) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1916) wp.org #5 ↓2 6 ECS – Ele Custom Skin for Elementor 100K+ · 4.6★ (117) wp.org #6 ↑4 7 Custom Sidebars – Dynamic Sidebar Classic Widget Area Manager 100K+ · 4.7★ (1028) wp.org #10 ↓1 3 too low 8 Custom Taxonomy Order 50K+ · 4.8★ (96) wp.org #9 ↓2 1 too low 9 Secure Custom Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (69) wp.org #7 ↓3 2 too high 10 Gallery Custom Links 30K+ · 4.7★ (208) wp.org #15 ↓7 5 too low 11 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #14 ↑5 3 too low 12 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #22 ↓2 10 too low 13 Admin Custom Login 10K+ · 4.6★ (388) wp.org #23 ↓7 10 too low 14 Woody Code Snippets – Insert PHP, CSS, JS, and Header/Footer Scripts 50K+ · 4.5★ (221) wp.org #17 ↑6 3 too low 15 Header and Footer Scripts 200K+ · 4.6★ (58) wp.org #19 ↓5 4 too low 16 Real Custom Post Order: Create a custom order for your content 8K+ · 4.8★ (42) wp.org #16 ↓1 17 Advanced Custom Fields: Font Awesome Field 90K+ · 4.9★ (36) wp.org #21 ↓9 4 too low 18 MB Custom Post Types & Custom Taxonomies 10K+ · 4.7★ (13) wp.org #13 5 too high 19 Custom Post Types and Custom Fields creator – WCK 10K+ · 4.7★ (97) wp.org #20 ↓2 1 too low 20 Insert Headers and Footers Code – HT Script 7K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #12 ↓1 8 too high 21 Custom Order Numbers for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.2★ (25) wp.org #11 ↓6 10 too high 22 S Smart Custom Fields 50K+ · 4.9★ (21) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 CM Header and Footer – Add custom scripts and styles to your header and footer with ease 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 ↓2 15 too high 24 BBH Custom Schema – Add Custom JSON-LD to Your Website 900+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 ↓1 6 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.