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

Product Input Fields for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #9 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 4K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 17 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

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 Flexible Checkout Fields for WooCommerce – WooCommerce Checkout Manager 80K+ · 4.7★ (296) wp.org #3 ↑2 4 Advanced Product Fields (Product Addons) for WooCommerce 50K+ · 4.8★ (284) wp.org #4 5 Calculated Fields Form – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact, Payment, Quote, Quiz & More 40K+ · 4.9★ (973) wp.org #8 ↓1 3 too low 6 Conditional Fields for Contact Form 7 100K+ · 4.8★ (166) wp.org #6 ↓3 7 Secure Custom Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (69) wp.org #5 ↑1 2 too high 8 Table Field Add-on for ACF and SCF 50K+ · 4.9★ (60) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 Flexible Product Fields (WooCommerce Product Addons) – WooCommerce Product Page Editor 10K+ · 4.5★ (106) wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too low 10 Image Alt Text 10K+ · 5.0★ (56) wp.org #11 ↓3 1 too low 11 DTX – Dynamic Text Extension for Contact Form 7 100K+ · 4.7★ (99) wp.org #12 ↓1 1 too low 12 Text To Speech TTS Accessibility 4K+ · 4.8★ (92) wp.org #13 1 too low 13 Checkout Field Editor (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce 400K+ · 4.9★ (1056) wp.org #22 ↓10 9 too low 14 WC Fields Factory 7K+ · 4.3★ (168) wp.org #17 ↑1 3 too low 15 S Smart Custom Fields 50K+ · 4.9★ (21) wp.org #14 ↑2 1 too high 16 Product Input Fields for WooCommerce 4K+ · 4.0★ (17) wp.org #9 ↑1 7 too high 17 Admin Columns for ACF Fields 8K+ · 4.9★ (20) wp.org #15 2 too high 18 Conditional Fields for Elementor Form – Apply Conditional Logic 10K+ · 4.7★ (32) wp.org #21 3 too low 19 JVM Rich Text Icons 3K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #20 1 too low 20 Auto Alt Text 4K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #18 ↑1 2 too high 21 Alt Text Tools 800+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #24 ↓2 3 too low 22 Text Unfold For Elementor 3K+ · 4.6★ (7) wp.org #16 ↑1 6 too high 23 AI Alt Text Generator 2K+ · 4.9★ (7) wp.org #23 ↓9 24 Animated Text Block – Add Typing and Looping Text Effects 4K+ · 4.8★ (5) wp.org #19 5 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.