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

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 “field”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 6 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

Telephone field for Elementor Forms shows at wp.org #9 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 4K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder places #7 on merit, 4.8★ from 2144 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. 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 2 Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 Checkout Field Editor (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce 400K+ · 4.9★ (1056) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 Table Field Add-on for ACF and SCF 50K+ · 4.9★ (60) wp.org #4 ↑4 5 Flexible Checkout Fields for WooCommerce – WooCommerce Checkout Manager 80K+ · 4.7★ (296) wp.org #6 ↑3 1 too low 6 Meta Field Block – Display Custom Fields for ACF, Meta Box and More 10K+ · 5.0★ (57) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #15 ↓2 8 too low 8 Secure Custom Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (69) wp.org #8 ↓4 9 Advanced Product Fields (Product Addons) for WooCommerce 50K+ · 4.8★ (284) wp.org #14 5 too low 10 Checkout Field Editor for WooCommerce – Checkout Manager 20K+ · 4.9★ (165) wp.org #16 ↑3 6 too low 11 Checkout Field Manager (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.5★ (784) wp.org #19 ↓8 8 too low 12 Advanced Custom Fields: Font Awesome Field 90K+ · 4.9★ (36) wp.org #10 ↓3 2 too high 13 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #24 ↓6 11 too low 14 Custom Field Template 30K+ · 4.0★ (24) wp.org #7 ↑3 7 too high 15 Conditional Fields for Contact Form 7 100K+ · 4.8★ (166) wp.org #11 ↑5 4 too high 16 Advanced Custom Fields: Extended 100K+ · 4.8★ (132) wp.org #21 ↑1 5 too low 17 WC – APG NIF/CIF/NIE Field 10K+ · 4.8★ (23) wp.org #12 ↑5 5 too high 18 Blocks for ACF Fields — Display Custom Fields in the Block Editor 2K+ · 4.9★ (13) wp.org #17 ↓11 1 too high 19 Telephone field for Elementor Forms 4K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #9 ↑3 10 too high 20 Checkout Field Editor (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.7★ (40) wp.org #23 ↑1 3 too low 21 Country Code For Elementor Form Telephone Field 10K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #22 ↑1 1 too low 22 Custom field finder 2K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #20 ↑1 2 too high 23 Advanced Custom Fields: Typography Field 3K+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #13 10 too high 24 Signature field for Elementor Forms 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #18 ↑2 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.