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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “required 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 “required field”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

Advanced Custom Fields: Typography Field shows at wp.org #11 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.6★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Checkout Field Manager (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce places #10 on merit, 4.5★ from 784 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 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 5 Meta Field Block – Display Custom Fields for ACF, Meta Box and More 10K+ · 5.0★ (57) wp.org #5 ↑1 6 Flexible Checkout Fields for WooCommerce – WooCommerce Checkout Manager 80K+ · 4.7★ (296) wp.org #10 ↑1 4 too low 7 Conditional Fields for Contact Form 7 100K+ · 4.8★ (166) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too high 8 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #15 ↓2 7 too low 9 Custom Field Template 30K+ · 4.0★ (24) wp.org #7 2 too high 10 Checkout Field Manager (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.5★ (784) wp.org #22 ↓1 12 too low 11 Advanced Product Fields (Product Addons) for WooCommerce 50K+ · 4.8★ (284) wp.org #21 ↓1 10 too low 12 Secure Custom Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (69) wp.org #13 ↑5 1 too low 13 Advanced Custom Fields: Extended 100K+ · 4.8★ (132) wp.org #23 10 too low 14 Advanced Custom Fields: Font Awesome Field 90K+ · 4.9★ (36) wp.org #16 ↓1 2 too low 15 WC – APG NIF/CIF/NIE Field 10K+ · 4.8★ (23) wp.org #9 ↑1 6 too high 16 Blocks for ACF Fields — Display Custom Fields in the Block Editor 2K+ · 4.9★ (13) wp.org #12 ↓4 4 too high 17 Country & Phone Field Contact Form 7 40K+ · 4.5★ (41) wp.org #24 7 too low 18 W WP Required Taxonomies – Categories and Tags Mandatory 1K+ · 4.1★ (8) wp.org #8 ↑1 10 too high 19 Checkout Field Editor (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.7★ (40) wp.org #17 2 too high 20 Smart phone field for Gravity Forms 5K+ · 4.2★ (23) wp.org #19 ↑3 1 too high 21 ACF Field For CF7 10K+ · 4.7★ (11) wp.org #20 ↓1 1 too high 22 Advanced Custom Fields: Typography Field 3K+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #11 ↑1 11 too high 23 Signature field for Elementor Forms 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #14 9 too high 24 A Add Password Field for Contact Form 7 3K+ · 4.6★ (5) 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.