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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “term 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 “term field.”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

Reorder by Term shows at wp.org #9 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ 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 #12 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 Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418) wp.org #2 3 Checkout Field Editor (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce 400K+ · 4.9★ (1056) wp.org #3 4 Table Field Add-on for ACF and SCF 50K+ · 4.9★ (60) wp.org #4 5 Complianz – Terms and Conditions 300K+ · 4.9★ (187) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Meta Field Block – Display Custom Fields for ACF, Meta Box and More 10K+ · 5.0★ (57) wp.org #6 7 WP Term Order 6K+ · 4.8★ (20) wp.org #5 2 too high 8 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7520) wp.org #16 8 too low 9 Category Order and Taxonomy Terms Order 500K+ · 4.5★ (162) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 Advanced Product Fields (Product Addons) for WooCommerce 50K+ · 4.8★ (284) wp.org #18 8 too low 11 Secure Custom Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (69) wp.org #13 2 too low 12 Checkout Field Manager (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.5★ (784) wp.org #22 10 too low 13 Advanced Custom Fields: Extended 100K+ · 4.8★ (132) wp.org #19 6 too low 14 WC – APG NIF/CIF/NIE Field 10K+ · 4.8★ (23) wp.org #11 3 too high 15 Advanced Custom Fields: Font Awesome Field 90K+ · 4.9★ (36) wp.org #17 2 too low 16 WP Term Images 2K+ · 4.6★ (10) wp.org #8 8 too high 17 Blocks for ACF Fields — Display Custom Fields in the Block Editor 2K+ · 4.9★ (13) wp.org #12 5 too high 18 Reorder by Term 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #9 9 too high 19 S Smart Custom Fields 50K+ · 4.9★ (21) wp.org #23 4 too low 20 B BuddyPress Xprofile Custom Field Types 3K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #24 4 too low 21 ACF Field For CF7 10K+ · 4.7★ (11) wp.org #20 1 too high 22 Vachr Short-Term Rental Reservations 40+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #15 7 too high 23 WP Term Colors 700+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #14 9 too high 24 Dynamic Fields Engine – Custom post types, Custom fields, Meta fields, Taxonomies, Listing builder, Query builder and Relations 3K+ · 0.0★ (0) 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.