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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “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 “theme”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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 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

Weaver Xtreme Theme Support shows at wp.org #13 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 8K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation places #10 on merit, 4.7★ from 1667 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery 300K+ · 4.3★ (4342) wp.org #1 2 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5038) wp.org #3 ↑3 1 too low 3 Theme Check 20K+ · 4.8★ (195) wp.org #4 ↑3 1 too low 4 Xpro Theme Builder For Elementor – FREE 20K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #2 ↑1 2 too high 5 Theme My Login 50K+ · 3.7★ (460) wp.org #5 ↓3 6 WP Rollback – Rollback Plugins and Themes 200K+ · 4.9★ (215) wp.org #7 ↓2 1 too low 7 Theme Editor 50K+ · 4.6★ (128) wp.org #9 ↓1 2 too low 8 Theme Switcha – Easily Switch Themes for Development and Testing 7K+ · 4.4★ (63) wp.org #6 ↓2 2 too high 9 Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode 600K+ · 4.9★ (4699) wp.org #17 8 too low 10 TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #19 ↓1 9 too low 11 Create Block Theme 20K+ · 4.8★ (38) wp.org #10 ↑2 1 too high 12 Supreme Modules Lite – Divi Theme, Extra Theme and Divi Builder 200K+ · 4.8★ (109) wp.org #14 2 too low 13 WP Child Theme Generator 20K+ · 4.7★ (19) wp.org #8 ↑1 5 too high 14 Child Theme Wizard 10K+ · 4.9★ (36) wp.org #12 ↓1 2 too high 15 Dark Mode – Improve Accessibility with AI Powered Dark Theme 20K+ · 4.5★ (391) wp.org #21 ↓2 6 too low 16 Easy Updates Manager 300K+ · 4.8★ (726) wp.org #24 ↓1 8 too low 17 Easy Google Maps by Supsystic – Custom Markers, Clustering & Map Themes 20K+ · 4.6★ (251) wp.org #22 5 too low 18 Generate Child Theme 9K+ · 4.3★ (15) wp.org #11 ↓1 7 too high 19 Download Plugins and Themes in ZIP from Dashboard 30K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #23 ↑1 4 too low 20 C Cryout Serious Theme Settings 40K+ · 4.3★ (16) wp.org #16 4 too high 21 Child Theme Check 700+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #18 ↑2 3 too high 22 Weaver Xtreme Theme Support 8K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #13 9 too high 23 Astra Theme Visual Hooks 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #20 ↑1 3 too high 24 WPS Child Theme Generator 6K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 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.