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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “selection 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 “selection field”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20.

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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Selection Lite shows at wp.org #6 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 9K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 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 #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 14387 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 ↑1 2 Checkout Field Editor (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce 400K+ · 4.9★ (1056) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 Checkout Field Editor for WooCommerce – Checkout Manager 20K+ · 4.9★ (165) wp.org #5 ↑2 2 too low 4 Secure Custom Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (69) wp.org #4 ↓1 5 Advanced Product Fields (Product Addons) for WooCommerce 50K+ · 4.8★ (284) wp.org #10 ↓4 5 too low 6 Advanced Custom Fields: Font Awesome Field 90K+ · 4.9★ (36) wp.org #8 ↓3 2 too low 7 Telephone field for Elementor Forms 4K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 too high 8 Checkout Field Manager (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.5★ (784) wp.org #16 ↓2 8 too low 9 Product Addons for Woocommerce – Product Options with Custom Fields 30K+ · 4.9★ (474) wp.org #18 ↓3 9 too low 10 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #22 12 too low 11 Advanced Custom Fields: Extended 100K+ · 4.8★ (132) wp.org #14 ↑2 3 too low 12 Checkout Field Editor (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.7★ (40) wp.org #11 ↑1 1 too high 13 Country Code For Elementor Form Telephone Field 10K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #7 ↑2 6 too high 14 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #24 ↓2 10 too low 15 Country & Phone Field Contact Form 7 40K+ · 4.5★ (41) wp.org #15 ↑2 16 Image Aspect Ratio Crop Field for Advanced Custom Fields 20K+ · 4.8★ (26) wp.org #17 ↑2 1 too low 17 Smart phone field for Gravity Forms 5K+ · 4.2★ (23) wp.org #12 ↑1 5 too high 18 ACF Field For CF7 10K+ · 4.7★ (11) wp.org #13 ↓2 5 too high 19 B BuddyPress Xprofile Custom Field Types 3K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #20 ↓2 1 too low 20 Country and State Selection Addon for Gravity Forms 900+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #9 ↑1 11 too high 21 Selection Lite 9K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 ↑2 15 too high 22 Smart Phone Field For WPForms, Contact Form 7, Fluent Forms, Elementor Forms, WooCommerce, Formidable Forms, Ninja Forms 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #19 ↑1 3 too high 23 List More Custom Field Names 70+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #23 24 Telephone field for Gravity Forms 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 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.