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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “remove 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 “remove fields”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 5 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

Comment Link Remove and Other Comment Tools shows at wp.org #9 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 8K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.1★ average from 15 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 7519 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. 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 Flexible Checkout Fields for WooCommerce – WooCommerce Checkout Manager 80K+ · 4.7★ (296) wp.org #2 3 Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418) wp.org #3 4 Secure Custom Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (69) wp.org #4 5 Table Field Add-on for ACF and SCF 50K+ · 4.9★ (60) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Conditional Fields for Contact Form 7 100K+ · 4.8★ (166) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 Advanced Custom Fields: Font Awesome Field 90K+ · 4.9★ (36) wp.org #7 8 Checkout Field Editor (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce 400K+ · 4.9★ (1056) wp.org #15 ↓4 7 too low 9 Remove Category URL – Remove ‘category’ base from category permalinks 40K+ · 4.3★ (61) wp.org #8 1 too high 10 Checkout Field Manager (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.5★ (784) wp.org #19 ↓2 9 too low 11 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #22 11 too low 12 Flexible Product Fields (WooCommerce Product Addons) – WooCommerce Product Page Editor 10K+ · 4.5★ (106) wp.org #13 ↑1 1 too low 13 WC Fields Factory 7K+ · 4.3★ (168) wp.org #14 ↑1 1 too low 14 Masks Form Fields 9K+ · 5.0★ (23) wp.org #10 4 too high 15 Advanced Custom Fields: Extended 100K+ · 4.8★ (132) wp.org #18 ↑1 3 too low 16 S Smart Custom Fields 50K+ · 4.9★ (21) wp.org #12 ↑1 4 too high 17 Meta Field Block – Display Custom Fields for ACF, Meta Box and More 10K+ · 5.0★ (57) wp.org #21 4 too low 18 Admin Columns for ACF Fields 8K+ · 4.9★ (20) wp.org #16 2 too high 19 Comment Link Remove and Other Comment Tools 8K+ · 4.1★ (15) wp.org #9 10 too high 20 Product Input Fields for WooCommerce 4K+ · 4.0★ (17) wp.org #11 ↑1 9 too high 21 Remove tabs and fields from WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #17 ↑1 4 too high 22 Profile & Dashboard fields [Modify/Disable/Remove] 200+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 Remove Website URL Field From Comment Form 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #20 3 too high 24 Checkout & Store Toolkit for WooCommerce 800+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 1 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.