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

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 widgets”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 2 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 Post & Filter Widgets for Elementor shows at wp.org #12 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 4K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 18 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 1680 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) wp.org #1 2 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #2 3 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #3 4 Custom Sidebars – Dynamic Sidebar Classic Widget Area Manager 100K+ · 4.7★ (1028) wp.org #4 ↑2 5 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #5 ↑3 6 Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (587) wp.org #6 ↓1 7 Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418) wp.org #7 8 SiteOrigin Widgets Bundle 400K+ · 4.9★ (134) wp.org #8 ↓4 9 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #13 ↓1 4 too low 10 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #9 ↑1 1 too high 11 Custom Twitter Feeds – A Tweets Widget or X Feed Widget 100K+ · 4.8★ (401) wp.org #14 ↓1 3 too low 12 ECS – Ele Custom Skin for Elementor 100K+ · 4.6★ (117) wp.org #11 ↑4 1 too high 13 WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1915) wp.org #19 ↓2 6 too low 14 Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #22 8 too low 15 Content Blocks (Custom Post Widget) 10K+ · 4.9★ (80) wp.org #18 ↑1 3 too low 16 Widget Content Blocks 10K+ · 4.8★ (60) wp.org #16 17 Dynamic Widgets 10K+ · 4.7★ (109) wp.org #20 ↑4 3 too low 18 C Custom Post Type Widgets 10K+ · 4.8★ (14) wp.org #10 ↓1 8 too high 19 List Custom Taxonomy Widget 8K+ · 4.7★ (21) wp.org #15 ↓1 4 too high 20 Skyboot Custom Icons for Elementor – Elementor Icons library – 14300+ Icons 200K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #17 ↑1 3 too high 21 Better Post & Filter Widgets for Elementor 4K+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #12 ↓1 9 too high 22 Events Widgets For Elementor And The Events Calendar 10K+ · 4.5★ (108) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 Classic Editor and Classic Widgets 20K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #23 ↓2 24 Essential Widgets 10K+ · 3.5★ (2) wp.org #21 ↓1 3 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.