wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “night 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 “night 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

AboveWP Admin Dark Mode shows at wp.org #15 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 90+ 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

CMP – Coming Soon & Maintenance Plugin by NiteoThemes places #8 on merit, 4.7★ from 326 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Dark Mode – Improve Accessibility with AI Powered Dark Theme 20K+ · 4.5★ (391) wp.org #2 1 too low 2

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

Darklup – Enhanced WordPress Dark Mode, Dark Theme, Night Mode & Accessibility Plugin 1K+ · 4.5★ (44) wp.org #3 4

Dark Mode for WP Dashboard 3K+ · 4.8★ (34) wp.org #4 5

WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1917) wp.org #8 3 too low 6

Code Block Pro – Beautiful Syntax Highlighting 10K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #5 1 too high 7

Tickera – Sell Tickets & Manage Events 2K+ · 4.5★ (292) wp.org #11 4 too low 8

CMP – Coming Soon & Maintenance Plugin by NiteoThemes 200K+ · 4.7★ (326) wp.org #14 ↑2 6 too low 9

BA Book Everything 10K+ · 4.2★ (20) thin reviews wp.org #6 3 too high 10

Dark Mode Toggle 2K+ · 4.6★ (19) thin reviews wp.org #7 3 too high 11

Colibri Page Builder 80K+ · 4.4★ (80) wp.org #17 ↓3 5 too low 13

WP Hotelier 2K+ · 4.7★ (23) thin reviews wp.org #12 1 too high 14

DarkLooks – Dark Mode Switcher For WordPress 800+ · 4.8★ (16) thin reviews wp.org #9 5 too high 15

Easy Booking – WooCommerce Booking & Reservation Plugin 4K+ · 4.7★ (63) wp.org #18 ↓3 3 too low 16

Availability Datepicker – Booking Calendar for Contact Form 7 – Input WP 10K+ · 4.1★ (42) wp.org #16 ↑2 17

Bus Ticket Booking with Seat Reservation 700+ · 4.9★ (41) wp.org #22 5 too low 18

MotoPress Hotel Booking 10K+ · 3.7★ (65) wp.org #19 1 too low 19

DarkMySite – Advanced Dark Mode Plugin for WordPress 900+ · 4.7★ (14) thin reviews wp.org #23 4 too low 20

Dark Reader – Beautiful Dark Mode for any Website 200+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #13 7 too high 21

SKT Templates – 100% Free Templates for Elementor & Gutenberg 20K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #20 1 too high 22

ChatHelp – Click to Chat Button, Chat to Order for WooCommerce & Floating Chat Form 2K+ · 4.4★ (9) thin reviews wp.org #24 2 too low 23

WP Admin Audit 1K+ · 3.7★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #21 2 too high 24

AboveWP Admin Dark Mode 90+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #15 ↑2 9 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.