wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “profile fields”

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 “profile fields”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

User Profile Picture – Custom Local Avatars shows at wp.org #11 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 4K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Checkout Field Editor (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce places #7 on merit, 4.9★ from 1056 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 signals wp.org

User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor 40K+ · 4.7★ (738) wp.org #1 2

Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445) wp.org #2 3

Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418) wp.org #3 4

Flexible Checkout Fields for WooCommerce – WooCommerce Checkout Manager 80K+ · 4.7★ (296) wp.org #4 5

Table Field Add-on for ACF and SCF 50K+ · 4.9★ (60) wp.org #6 1 too low 6

BP Profile Search 5K+ · 5.0★ (71) wp.org #7 1 too low 7

Checkout Field Editor (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce 400K+ · 4.9★ (1056) wp.org #13 ↓1 6 too low 8

Profile Extra Fields by BestWebSoft 1K+ · 4.6★ (15) thin reviews wp.org #5 3 too high 9

User Profile Picture 40K+ · 4.6★ (59) wp.org #9 10

Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #16 6 too low 11

Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) not PHP-current wp.org #10 ↓2 1 too high 12

Five Star Business Profile and Schema 7K+ · 4.8★ (52) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #8 ↑2 4 too high 13

ProfileGrid – User Profiles, Groups and Communities 5K+ · 4.6★ (236) not PHP-current wp.org #15 ↑3 2 too low 14

Advanced Custom Fields: Extended 100K+ · 4.8★ (132) wp.org #21 ↓1 6 too low 16

UsersWP – Front-end login form, User Registration, User Profile & Members Directory plugin for WP 20K+ · 4.7★ (183) wp.org #22 ↓1 6 too low 17

All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #24 ↓2 7 too low 18

One User Avatar | User Profile Picture 100K+ · 4.7★ (41) wp.org #19 ↓2 1 too low 19 S Smart Custom Fields 50K+ · 4.9★ (21) heavy footprint thin reviews wp.org #14 ↓1 5 too high 20 D Display custom fields in the frontend – Post and User Profile Fields 500+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #12 ↓1 8 too high 21

Profile & Dashboard fields [Modify/Disable/Remove] 200+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #17 ↓2 4 too high 22

User Profile Picture – Custom Local Avatars 4K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #11 ↑3 11 too high 23

CiviCRM Profile Sync 500+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #20 ↓1 3 too high 24

Gravatar Enhanced – Avatars, Profiles, and Privacy 100K+ · 5.0★ (3) host-installed base thin reviews 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.