### [How to Add a Ranking Question to Your WordPress Forms](https://wpforms.com/how-to-add-a-ranking-question-to-wordpress-forms/)

**Published:** September 9, 2026
**Author:** Hamza Shahid

**Excerpt:** Ever wished you could hand your website visitors a list and just ask, "Okay, put these in order for me"?

Maybe you're deciding which product feature to build next, which topics your newsletter should cover, or which dishes have earned a permanent spot on the menu. 

A ranking question gets you a straight answer by letting your visitors arrange your options from their top choice down to their last, so you see exactly where every option stands.

In this tutorial, I'll show you how to add a ranking question to your WordPress forms using the WPForms Ranking field. The whole setup is point and click and should take you just about 5 minutes.

**Content:**

Ever wished you could hand your website visitors a list and just ask, “Okay, put these in order for me”?

Maybe you’re deciding which product feature to build next, which topics your newsletter should cover, or which dishes have earned a permanent spot on the menu.

A ranking question gets you a straight answer by letting your visitors arrange your options from their top choice down to their last, so you see exactly where every option stands.

In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to add a ranking question to your WordPress forms using the WPForms Ranking field. The whole setup is point and click and should take you just about 5 minutes.

[Create Your Ranking Survey Now! 🙂](https://wpforms.com/pricing)

## How to Add a Ranking Question to Your WordPress Forms

The Ranking field ships inside the [Surveys and Polls addon](https://wpforms.com/features/surveys-and-polls-addon/ "Surveys and Polls addon"), and it sits in the same drag and drop builder you already use for every other field. You drop it into a form, list the options you want compared, and then view the results from your WordPress dashboard.

- [Step 1: Install the WPForms Pro Plugin](#step-1-install-the-wpforms-pro-plugin)
- [Step 2: Activate the Surveys and Polls Addon](#step-2-install-the-surveys-and-polls-addon)
- [Step 3: Add the Ranking Field to Your Form](#step-3-add-the-ranking-field-to-your-form)
- [Step 4: Fill In the Options You Want Ranked](#step-4-fill-in-the-options-you-want-ranked)
- [Step 5: Choose a Layout and Control How Reordering Works](#step-5-choose-a-layout-and-control-how-reordering-works)
- [Step 6: Publish Your Form and Test the Drag and Drop](#step-6-publish-your-form-and-test-the-drag-and-drop)
- [Step 7: Read Your Ranking Results in the Survey Report](#step-7-read-your-ranking-results-in-the-survey-report)
- [Ranking Field Accessibility for Keyboard and Screen Reader Users](#ranking-field-accessibility-for-keyboard-and-screen-reader-users)

### Step 1: Install the WPForms Pro Plugin

Before you can ask anyone to rank anything, you need WPForms on your site. It ships with [2,100+ WordPress form templates](https://wpforms.com/templates/) and an AI form builder, so you rarely have to start a survey form from scratch.

What I like most about WPForms for preference research is that the question and the analysis live in the same place. You build the ranking question in the form builder, and the results shows up on your Entries screen without exporting anything to a spreadsheet.

The Ranking field is part of the Surveys and Polls addon, which makes it a Pro feature. So you will need a WPForms Pro license or higher to follow along, which will also unlock a huge list of addons, features, and integrations for you to take the forms on your site to a new level.

[![The WPForms homepage](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/WPForms-Website.png)](https://wpforms.com/pricing/)To get started, buy the [Pro license](https://wpforms.com/pricing/). Then, install WPForms on your website. If you need help, follow these instructions on [how to add a plugin to WordPress](http://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/step-by-step-guide-to-install-a-wordpress-plugin-for-beginners/).

[Upgrade to WPForms Pro Now! 🙂](https://wpforms.com/pricing)

### Step 2: Activate the Surveys and Polls Addon

The Ranking field does not appear in the builder until this addon is active. Go to **WPForms » Addons** and find the [Surveys and Polls addon](https://wpforms.com/features/surveys-and-polls-addon/) card, or type survey into the search box to filter the list down.

Click **Install Addon** on the card. WPForms downloads and switches it on in one move, then the card changes to an **Activated** status.

![Card for the 'Surveys and Polls' addon on WPForms Addons page, marked Featured, with description and an Activated toggle on the right.](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/activate-surveys-and-polls-addon-1024x680.png)The same addon brings the rest of the survey toolkit with it, including [Likert Scale](https://wpforms.com/how-to-add-a-likert-scale-to-your-wordpress-forms-step-by-step/ "Likert Scale"), Net Promoter Score, and the reporting engine that turns raw entries into charts.

Once the card reads **Activated**, the Ranking field is available in every form on your site, including the ones you built before installing the addon.

### Step 3: Add the Ranking Field to Your Form

Now you can build the question itself. Navigate to **WPForms » Add New** to create a new form, or open an existing one if you already have a survey collecting entries.

![Add new](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/add-new-1024x545.png)If you’re creating a form for the first time, you’ll be pleased to hear that there are [2,100+ WordPress form templates](https://wpforms.com/templates/) to choose from.

For more specific requirements, I also recommend using the **Generate with AI** option and entering a custom prompt to use the Ranking Field, and WPForms AI will build the entire thing for you.

![wpforms ai builder](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/enter-prompt-field-1024x698.png)Once you’re in the form builder, look under **Fancy Fields** in the **Add Fields** panel. The **Ranking** field sits there alongside the other survey fields.

![Two-panel UI mockup: left column shows blue action-buttons (Ranking highlighted), right column shows a Bakery Favorites Survey form with an Email Address field.](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/ranking-field-1024x743.png)Click it or drag it into the preview area and it arrives with three placeholder choices and a short description that reads “Put these options in order, with your most preferred at the top.”

![Ranking widget with three draggable options: Option 1, Option 2, Option 3; title 'Ranking' and instruction to order by preference.](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/ranking-field-2-1024x507.png)Next, click the field in the preview to open its options, then replace the **Label** with your actual question. Something like “Which feature should we build first?”.

You will also notice the field has no **Required** setting, which means every submission necessarily contains a complete order, so there is nothing to enforce.

If someone submits without moving anything, the order on their screen is what gets saved. For the full option-by-option breakdown, the [full field reference](https://wpforms.com/docs/ranking-field/) covers every setting in one place.

### Step 4: Fill In the Options You Want Ranked

Open the **General** tab and work through the **Choices** list. The order you set here is the starting order people see on your form, and you can add, remove, or rearrange rows as you go.

![](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/ranking-field-example-choices-1024x368.png)You can also [bulk add choices](https://wpforms.com/docs/how-to-bulk-add-choices-for-multiple-choice-checkbox-and-dropdown-fields/) by pasting one option per line, or you can click **Generate Choices** and let [WPForms AI](https://wpforms.com/features/wpforms-ai/) build the list from a plain prompt like “four pricing plans.”

![Modal titled 'Generate Choices' with a list of example prompts such as daily habits, employer qualities, Southeast Asia travel, world cuisines, programming languages, and social platforms for marketing (informational)](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/generating-ranking-field-choices-1024x640.png)If you want something more visual, you can also toggle on **Use Image Choices** to [show pictures instead of text](https://wpforms.com/docs/how-to-add-image-choices-to-fields/), or **Use Icon Choices** if you want [icon choices](https://wpforms.com/docs/using-icon-choices/) instead.

The entire list can be also automatically filled in by **Dynamic Choice**, which allows you to add choices based on a post type or a taxonomy on your website.

**Pro Tip**

Keep your list to five or seven options, because the number of comparisons someone has to make grows fast. Past about eight items people stop ordering carefully and start dragging at random.

### Step 5: Choose a Layout and Control How Reordering Works

The **Advanced** tab is also where you decide how the field looks and how people move things around. Start with **Layout**, which offers **List** or **Grid**.

**List** is the default, so each choice becomes a full-width row stacked from top to bottom, and the row at the top is ranked first. Long option labels have the whole width of the field to breathe, which makes this the safer pick for text.

![](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/layout-list-example-ranking-field-1024x546.png)Switch to **Grid** and each choice becomes a card instead and cards rank left to right and then top to bottom, so the card in the upper left is first.

A **Columns** option appears underneath, where you can set anywhere from 2 to 6 cards per row, and 3 is the default.

![](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/layout-grid-example-ranking-field-1024x430.png)**Grid** also changes the field size to **Large** so the cards have room, and the default description rewrites itself to mention putting your favorite first rather than at the top.

Next comes **Arrows**, which controls when the reorder buttons appear. **On Hover** is the default, **Visible** keeps them showing always, and **Never** hides them so dragging is the only route.

**Pro Tip**

Turn on **Randomize Choices** to shuffle the ranking order for each visitor, so anyone who submits the form doesn’t automatically use the default order as their opinion.

### Step 6: Publish Your Form and Test the Drag and Drop

With the question built, this step puts it in front of real visitors so you can test the interaction yourself. Save your form, then click **Embed** at the top of the builder.

![Form builder embed button](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/form-builder-embed-button-1024x320.png)The modal gives you a bunch of options for choosing how to display your ranking form onto your site. Choose the best option. For this tutorial, I’ll select the **New Page** option and then publish the page.

![](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/wpforms-form-embed-wizard-1024x542.png)Regardless of which option you choose, now is a good time to open your published page and use the field just like your visitors would to test if everything works as expected.

Test it on your phone too, where finger dragging works on touch screens and the arrows are always visible, so tapping tends to be the faster route on a small screen.

### Step 7: Read Your Ranking Results in the Survey Report

Survey reporting is switched on by default for the Ranking field, so your report starts building the moment entries arrive. Go to **WPForms » Entries** and pick your form, and you will find a results card sitting above the list of entries.

![](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/wpforms-ranking-field-results-card-1024x636.png)Ranking gives you two numbers you will not see on any other survey field, and mixing them up is easy.

- **Times at #1:** A straight count of how many people put that option in first place.
- **Rank:** The option’s average position across every response, where a lower number is better.

Click **View Survey Results** for the full report, where you can change the graph style, filter the responses, and export or print the whole thing.

![](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/chart-switch-ranking-field-example-1024x654.png)That completes the loop, with your form collecting an order from every visitor and the report turning those orders into a ranked list you can act on.

If you want to go further with filters and exports, here is how to [analyze your survey results](https://wpforms.com/how-to-analyze-survey-results-in-wordpress/) in more depth.

### Ranking Field Accessibility for Keyboard and Screen Reader Users

A keyboard-only visitor cannot drag anything, which makes accessibility a fair question to ask of any ranking question. WPForms builds the answer into the field, so there is nothing for you to wire up.

The field is fully keyboard navigable, so someone can reach it and reorder the list without a mouse. Every reorder is announced to a screen reader by name and new position.

Every label the field adds is ready for translation, and the whole field lays out correctly in right-to-left languages. So a ranking question on an Arabic or Hebrew site reads in the right direction without custom CSS.

### FAQs About Adding a Ranking Question in WordPress

Here are the questions that come up most often once people start building ranking questions.

#### What is the difference between a ranking question and a rating question?

A rating question scores each item on its own scale, and the same score can go to several items. A ranking question compares the items against each other and gives every one a different position, so nothing can tie.

Use a [rating scale question](https://wpforms.com/how-to-create-rating-scale-questions/) when you want to know how people feel about something in absolute terms. Reach for ranking when they face a real either-or choice and you need to know which one wins.

#### How many options should a ranking question have?

Five to seven options works best. Past eight or so, people stop weighing them properly and start sorting carelessly.

If you genuinely have twelve candidates, split them across two questions or narrow the list first with a multiple choice question.

#### Can I create a ranked-choice poll in WordPress?

Yes, a ranking question with survey reporting switched on is already a ranked-choice poll, since every voter submits a full order and the report tallies the positions for you.

Turn on **Randomize Choices** if you are running an actual vote, so the option you listed first does not pick up free support. A standard [poll form](https://wpforms.com/how-to-create-a-poll-form-in-wordpress-step-by-step/) works well for simpler single-choice questions.

#### Which WPForms license includes the Ranking field?

The Ranking field comes with the Surveys and Polls addon, which unlocks at Pro and above. If you are already on Pro or Elite, updating the addon is all it takes.

#### Can I make the Ranking field required?

No, and it does not need to be, because a ranking question always submits a complete order. A visitor who leaves the list alone still sends the order they were shown.

That is the practical reason to switch on **Randomize Choices**. It stops untouched submissions from all piling onto the same default order.

#### Can other fields use conditional logic based on the ranking?

No, you can show or hide the Ranking field itself with conditional logic, but no other field can branch on the ranking result.

So you cannot reveal a follow-up question only when a particular option lands in first place. If you need that kind of branching, ask a multiple choice question first and use it as the condition.

### Next, Build a Complete Survey Around Your Ranking Question

A ranking question tells you what order people prefer, and it works best next to a question or two that explain why. Adding a [matrix question](https://wpforms.com/matrix-question-surveys-polls/) lets you rate several statements against the same scale in one compact grid, which pairs well with the priority order you just collected.

If you want to know whether those people would recommend you at all, a [Net Promoter Score survey](https://wpforms.com/how-to-create-a-net-promoter-score-nps-survey-in-wordpress/) gives you a single number to track over time. Run it alongside your ranking question and you get both the direction and the sentiment from one form.

[Create Your Ranking Survey Now! 🙂](https://wpforms.com/pricing)

Ready to build your form? Get started today with the easiest WordPress form builder plugin. [WPForms Pro](https://wpforms.com/pricing) includes lots of free templates and offers a 14-day money-back guarantee.

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**Categories:** WordPress Tutorials

**Tags:** ranking field, survey & polls addon, WPForms, wpforms pro

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