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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “disable theme updates”

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 “disable theme updates”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 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

Disable Auto Update Emails and Block Updates for Plugins, WP Core, and Themes shows at wp.org #7 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 4K+ 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

Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) places #8 on merit, 5.0★ from 423 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Easy Updates Manager 300K+ · 4.8★ (726) wp.org #1 2 Disable All WordPress Updates 20K+ · 4.8★ (69) wp.org #2 3 Disable Gutenberg 500K+ · 5.0★ (735) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery 300K+ · 4.3★ (4342) wp.org #8 ↓2 4 too low 5 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #9 ↓2 4 too low 6 Disable Admin Notices – Hide Dashboard Notifications 100K+ · 4.7★ (367) wp.org #10 ↓1 4 too low 7 Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869) wp.org #18 11 too low 8 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #20 ↓1 12 too low 9 Disable Updates – Updates Manager, Disable Automatic Updates, Disable All Updates 9K+ · 4.5★ (24) wp.org #5 4 too high 10 Disable Comments 100K+ · 3.8★ (25) wp.org #6 ↑4 4 too high 11 Disable Updates for WordPress Core, Plugins and Themes 9K+ · 4.8★ (4) wp.org #3 8 too high 12 Theme My Login 50K+ · 3.7★ (460) wp.org #17 ↓3 5 too low 13 Disable Bloat for WordPress & WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.8★ (100) wp.org #22 9 too low 14 Disable Media Sizes 10K+ · 5.0★ (23) wp.org #15 ↑1 1 too low 15 Theme Switcha – Easily Switch Themes for Development and Testing 7K+ · 4.4★ (63) wp.org #16 ↓3 1 too low 16 Disable WordPress Update Notifications and auto-update Email Notifications 10K+ · 4.2★ (19) wp.org #13 ↓1 3 too high 17 Create Block Theme 20K+ · 4.8★ (38) wp.org #23 6 too low 18 Disable WP Notification 10K+ · 4.3★ (12) wp.org #14 ↑1 4 too high 19 Disable Everything 30K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #12 ↓1 7 too high 20 Disable Blog 20K+ · 4.7★ (14) wp.org #24 ↓3 4 too low 21 Disable Feeds WP 10K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #21 ↓1 22 Disable Auto Update Emails and Block Updates for Plugins, WP Core, and Themes 4K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #7 ↑1 15 too high 23 D Disable Plugin Autoupdate Emails 6K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #19 ↓2 4 too high 24 WP Disables Updates 700+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #11 13 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.