wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “full width theme”

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 “full width theme”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Full Width Banner Slider Wp shows at wp.org #2 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 20 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.5★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 1463 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 signals wp.org

Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery 300K+ · 4.3★ (4342) wp.org #3 2 too low 2

Xpro Theme Builder For Elementor – FREE 20K+ · 5.0★ (14) thin reviews wp.org #1 1 too high 3

Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #4 1 too low 4

Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (743) wp.org #5 1 too low 5

Easy Google Maps by Supsystic – Custom Markers, Clustering & Map Themes 20K+ · 4.6★ (251) wp.org #7 2 too low 6

Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN 1M+ · 4.8★ (6053) wp.org #11 ↑1 5 too low 7

Child Theme Configurator 300K+ · 4.7★ (280) wp.org #9 2 too low 8

Supreme Modules Lite – Divi Theme, Extra Theme and Divi Builder 100K+ · 4.8★ (109) wp.org #8 9

Fullwidth Templates for Any Theme & Page Builder 20K+ · 4.7★ (42) wp.org #6 3 too high 10

Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4358) wp.org #16 ↑1 6 too low 11

Smart Slider 3 800K+ · 4.9★ (1125) wp.org #15 4 too low 12

Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463) wp.org #20 8 too low 13

GenerateBlocks 200K+ · 4.9★ (122) wp.org #12 ↓1 1 too high 14

Visual CSS Style Editor 30K+ · 4.1★ (90) wp.org #10 4 too high 15

Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #19 4 too low 16

WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (199) wp.org #17 ↓1 1 too low 17

Beaver Builder Page Builder – Drag and Drop Website Builder 100K+ · 4.7★ (394) wp.org #22 ↓1 5 too low 18

Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #18 19

Better Block Editor (BBE) 6K+ · 5.0★ (11) thin reviews wp.org #14 5 too high 20

Darkify – Dark Mode & Night Mode for Website & Admin (Dark Theme Included) 1K+ · 4.7★ (27) wp.org #23 3 too low 21

Enable bbPress for Block Themes 200+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #13 8 too high 22

Full Width Banner Slider Wp 2K+ · 3.5★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #2 20 too high 23 F Full Width for Twenty Fourteen 40+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #21 ↑1 2 too high 24

Shortcodes and extra features for Phlox theme 80K+ · 2.1★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #24 ↓1

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.