wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “textarea css”
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 css”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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
Live CSS Preview shows at wp.org #7 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 300+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor places #6 on merit, 4.7★ from 738 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Hummingbird Performance – Cache & Page Speed Optimization for Core Web Vitals | Critical CSS | Minify CSS | Defer CSS Javascript | CDN 70K+ · 4.7★ (1488)
wp.org #2 1 too low 2 
GravityWP – CSS Selector 4K+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews
wp.org #1 1 too high 3 
Visual CSS Style Editor 30K+ · 4.1★ (90)
wp.org #4 1 too low 4 
Woody Code Snippets – Insert PHP, CSS, JS, and Header/Footer Scripts 50K+ · 4.5★ (221) not PHP-current
wp.org #5 1 too low 5 
WP Add Custom CSS 60K+ · 4.8★ (89)
wp.org #8 3 too low 6 User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor 40K+ · 4.7★ (738)
wp.org #13 7 too low 7 
Post/Page Specific Custom Code 6K+ · 4.6★ (42)
wp.org #6 1 too high 8 
Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612)
wp.org #12 4 too low 9 
ECS – Ele Custom Skin for Elementor 100K+ · 4.6★ (117)
wp.org #10 ↑1 1 too low 10 
Modular Custom CSS 400+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #3 7 too high 11 
Checkout Field Editor (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce 400K+ · 4.9★ (1056)
wp.org #17 ↓1 6 too low 12 
Checkout Field Editor for WooCommerce – Checkout Manager 20K+ · 4.9★ (165)
wp.org #14 2 too low 13 
WP Store Locator 40K+ · 4.8★ (312)
wp.org #16 ↓1 3 too low 14 
Redux Framework 900K+ · 4.4★ (273)
wp.org #11 ↓1 3 too high 15 
Checkout Field Manager (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.5★ (784)
wp.org #19 4 too low 16 
Ultra Addons for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (107)
wp.org #15 ↑3 1 too high 17 
Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882)
wp.org #24 7 too low 18 
Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807)
wp.org #23 ↓3 5 too low 19 
Meta Box – A Framework for Dynamic Websites 500K+ · 4.8★ (165)
wp.org #22 ↑1 3 too low 20 
Contact Form by Supsystic – Drag & Drop Form Builder with Templates & Form Statistics 6K+ · 4.7★ (92)
wp.org #20 ↑2 21 
Minify HTML 10K+ · 4.7★ (33)
wp.org #21 22 
Custom Field Template 30K+ · 4.0★ (24) thin reviews
wp.org #18 ↓1 4 too high 23 L Live CSS Preview 300+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #7 16 too high 24 
Aims Textarea Wordcount with/without Space For Contact Form 7 100+ · 5.0★ (1) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #9 15 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.