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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “customs”

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 “customs”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

Custom Permalinks shows at wp.org #8 but places #12 on merit, a gap of 4 places. Its 100K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.1★ average from 116 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More places #7 on merit, 4.8★ from 14387 reviews, but shows at wp.org #11. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #1 2 Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1916) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too low 5 Custom Post Type UI 1M+ · 4.6★ (276) wp.org #4 ↑6 1 too high 6 Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588) wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too low 7 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #11 ↑1 4 too low 8 Simple Custom CSS and JS 600K+ · 4.4★ (104) wp.org #5 ↓1 3 too high 9 Use Any Font | Custom Font Uploader 200K+ · 4.7★ (1148) wp.org #13 ↑1 4 too low 10 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #10 ↑1 11 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #12 ↑1 1 too low 12 Custom Permalinks 100K+ · 4.1★ (116) wp.org #8 ↓1 4 too high 13 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #9 4 too high 14 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #22 8 too low 15 ECS – Ele Custom Skin for Elementor 100K+ · 4.6★ (117) wp.org #17 2 too low 16 Custom Taxonomy Order 50K+ · 4.8★ (96) wp.org #18 2 too low 17 Secure Custom Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (69) wp.org #14 ↑5 3 too high 18 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #15 ↓7 3 too high 19 Custom Post Type Permalinks 200K+ · 4.8★ (71) wp.org #19 ↑1 20 Custom Fonts – Host Your Fonts Locally 400K+ · 4.3★ (62) wp.org #16 ↓1 4 too high 21 White Label – WordPress Custom Admin, Custom Login Page, and Custom Dashboard 10K+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #20 ↑1 1 too high 22 Skyboot Custom Icons for Elementor – Elementor Icons library – 14300+ Icons 200K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #24 ↓8 2 too low 23 MB Custom Post Types & Custom Taxonomies 10K+ · 4.7★ (13) wp.org #23 ↓1 24 Custom Order Numbers for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.2★ (25) wp.org #21 ↓4 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.