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← Rankings

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

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

YITH WooCommerce Tab Manager shows at wp.org #12 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 16 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 1916 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. 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★ (2144) wp.org #3 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 #4 ↓2 5 ECS – Ele Custom Skin for Elementor 100K+ · 4.6★ (117) wp.org #5 ↑5 6 Custom Product Tabs for WooCommerce & WordPress Tabs Builder – Smart Tabs 10K+ · 4.9★ (134) wp.org #8 ↓4 2 too low 7 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #11 ↑4 4 too low 8 Secure Custom Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (69) wp.org #9 ↓2 1 too low 9 WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1916) wp.org #17 ↓5 8 too low 10 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #10 ↓1 11 Custom Product tabs for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.9★ (48) wp.org #7 ↓2 4 too high 12 WPB Custom Tab Manager for WooCommerce – Add, Edit & Reorder Tabs 500+ · 4.5★ (14) wp.org #6 6 too high 13 Custom Twitter Feeds – A Tweets Widget or X Feed Widget 100K+ · 4.8★ (401) wp.org #23 ↓1 10 too low 14 Custom Product Tabs Lite for WooCommerce 4K+ · 4.2★ (33) wp.org #14 ↓1 15 Custom Order Status Manager for WooCommerce 30K+ · 4.7★ (117) wp.org #22 ↓1 7 too low 16 Product Tabs for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.7★ (69) wp.org #19 ↓1 3 too low 17 MB Custom Post Types & Custom Taxonomies 10K+ · 4.7★ (13) wp.org #16 1 too high 18 Ocean Custom Sidebar 20K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #18 ↓1 19 Custom Order Numbers for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.2★ (25) wp.org #15 ↓7 4 too high 20 U Ultimate Member Custom Tab Builder Lite 500+ · 4.6★ (7) wp.org #13 ↑1 7 too high 21 Gutena Tabs 6K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #21 ↓1 22 YITH WooCommerce Tab Manager 3K+ · 3.0★ (16) wp.org #12 ↓1 10 too high 23 Floating Side Tab 600+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 ↓1 3 too high 24 Custom Icons for Elementor and WPBakery 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24

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.