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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “textarea characters”

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 “textarea characters”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 2 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

Vampire Character Manager shows at wp.org #10 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 10+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Orphans places #11 on merit, 5.0★ from 164 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 R Restrict Usernames Emails Characters 1K+ · 4.5★ (25) wp.org #1 2 User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor 40K+ · 4.7★ (738) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Checkout Field Manager (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.5★ (784) wp.org #5 ↑2 2 too low 4 Spam Protection | Maspik 30K+ · 4.7★ (87) wp.org #4 ↑1 5 WP Store Locator 40K+ · 4.8★ (312) wp.org #9 ↑2 4 too low 6 Extra Product Options For WooCommerce | Custom Product Addons and Fields 30K+ · 4.9★ (219) wp.org #6 ↑3 7 Redux Framework 900K+ · 4.4★ (273) wp.org #7 ↑1 8 Count Characters, Words and Paragraphs while typing 300+ · 4.5★ (6) wp.org #2 6 too high 9 Simple Ajax Chat – Add a Fast, Secure Chat Box 2K+ · 4.9★ (215) wp.org #18 ↑1 9 too low 10 Custom Field Template 30K+ · 4.0★ (24) wp.org #8 ↑2 2 too high 11 Orphans 50K+ · 5.0★ (164) wp.org #22 ↓1 11 too low 12 PPOM – Product Addons & Custom Fields for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.5★ (283) wp.org #13 ↑7 1 too low 13 Custom Post Types and Custom Fields creator – WCK 10K+ · 4.7★ (97) wp.org #11 ↑2 2 too high 14 GSheetConnector – CF7 Google Sheets Connector & Save CF7 Entries to Database 40K+ · 4.4★ (129) wp.org #15 ↑7 1 too low 15 Social Media Auto Poster – Schedule & Publish to Buffer 7K+ · 4.5★ (125) wp.org #23 8 too low 16 DTX – Dynamic Text Extension for Contact Form 7 100K+ · 4.7★ (99) wp.org #16 17 Frontend Post Submission Manager Lite – Guest Post and Frontend Submission Forms 1K+ · 4.5★ (22) wp.org #14 ↑1 3 too high 18 Minify HTML 10K+ · 4.7★ (33) wp.org #20 ↓3 2 too low 19 Contact Form Email 8K+ · 4.3★ (102) wp.org #24 5 too low 20 GravityWP – CSS Selector 4K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #12 ↑2 8 too high 21 Easy Appointments 10K+ · 4.3★ (131) wp.org #21 ↑2 22 Zalomení 6K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #19 ↓1 3 too high 23 Product Option Kit – Product Options & Addons for WooCommerce 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #17 6 too high 24 Vampire Character Manager 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 ↑2 14 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.