wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “custom sizes”
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 sizes”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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
Better image sizes shows at wp.org #4 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 5 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 #7 on merit, 4.9★ from 474 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Simple Image Sizes 60K+ · 4.6★ (91)
wp.org #1 2 
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144)
wp.org #2 3 
Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418)
wp.org #3 4 
Custom Sidebars – Dynamic Sidebar Classic Widget Area Manager 100K+ · 4.7★ (1028)
wp.org #6 ↑3 2 too low 5 
ECS – Ele Custom Skin for Elementor 100K+ · 4.6★ (117)
wp.org #5 ↑7 6 
Perfect Images: Regenerate Thumbnails, Image Sizes, WebP & AVIF 60K+ · 4.8★ (279)
wp.org #8 2 too low 7 Product Addons for Woocommerce – Product Options with Custom Fields 30K+ · 4.9★ (474)
wp.org #13 6 too low 8 
WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1916)
wp.org #12 ↓2 4 too low 9 
Variation Swatches for WooCommerce – Color, Image & Size Swatches 200K+ · 4.6★ (51)
wp.org #7 ↓2 2 too high 10 
Custom Taxonomy Order 50K+ · 4.8★ (96)
wp.org #10 ↑1 11 
Custom Twitter Feeds – A Tweets Widget or X Feed Widget 100K+ · 4.8★ (401)
wp.org #15 ↑1 4 too low 12 
ThumbPress – Compress Images, Manage Thumbnails, Detect Image Issues, WebP/AVIF, Lazy Loading, Hotlinking & More 20K+ · 3.7★ (117)
wp.org #9 ↓3 3 too high 13 
Smash Balloon Social Post Feed – Simple Social Feeds for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (1511)
wp.org #23 ↓2 10 too low 14 
Admin Custom Login 10K+ · 4.6★ (388)
wp.org #18 ↓4 4 too low 15 
Use Any Font | Custom Font Uploader 200K+ · 4.7★ (1148)
wp.org #22 7 too low 16 Better image sizes 2K+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #4 12 too high 17 
Skyboot Custom Icons for Elementor – Elementor Icons library – 14300+ Icons 200K+ · 5.0★ (22) thin reviews
wp.org #11 ↓4 6 too high 18 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #21 ↑3 3 too low 19 
Content Blocks (Custom Post Widget) 10K+ · 4.9★ (80)
wp.org #24 ↓1 5 too low 20 
Real Custom Post Order: Create a custom order for your content 8K+ · 4.8★ (42) not PHP-current
wp.org #14 ↑1 6 too high 21 S Smart Custom Fields 50K+ · 4.9★ (21) heavy footprint thin reviews
wp.org #20 ↓2 1 too high 22 
Product Size Charts Plugin for WooCommerce 9K+ · 4.3★ (39) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #17 ↑3 5 too high 23 
CodeKit – Custom Codes Editor 7K+ · 4.8★ (16) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #19 4 too high 24 
Custom Icons for Elementor and WPBakery 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #16 8 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.