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

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 control”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 3 plugins are 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

Menu Visibility Control shows at wp.org #9 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 700+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 27821 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 #2 1 too low 2 Xpro Theme Builder For Elementor – FREE 20K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Content Control – The Ultimate Content Restriction Solution! Restrict Content, Create Conditional Blocks & More 40K+ · 4.9★ (575) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Theme My Login 50K+ · 3.7★ (460) wp.org #4 5 Theme Switcha – Easily Switch Themes for Development and Testing 7K+ · 4.4★ (63) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 Easy Updates Manager 300K+ · 4.8★ (726) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8708) wp.org #12 ↓1 5 too low 8 Create Block Theme 20K+ · 4.8★ (38) wp.org #6 2 too high 9 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #11 ↓1 2 too low 10 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #19 ↑2 9 too low 11 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #13 2 too low 12 Min Max Control – Min Max Quantity & Step Control for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.7★ (79) wp.org #8 ↑7 4 too high 13 PublishPress Capabilities: User Role Access Control, Admin Area Permissions 90K+ · 4.7★ (143) wp.org #17 ↑1 4 too low 14 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #14 15 Child Theme Configurator 300K+ · 4.7★ (280) wp.org #23 ↓1 8 too low 16 Image Source Control Lite – Show Image Credits and Captions 3K+ · 4.6★ (42) wp.org #15 ↑1 1 too high 17 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #20 ↓8 3 too low 18 U Update Control 4K+ · 4.4★ (17) wp.org #10 ↓1 8 too high 19 Dynamic Front-End Heartbeat Control 1K+ · 4.8★ (12) wp.org #21 ↓1 2 too low 20 Module Control for Jetpack 1K+ · 4.8★ (11) wp.org #16 ↑1 4 too high 21 Menu Visibility Control 700+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #9 ↓1 12 too high 22 Widget Visibility Control 200+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 Simple Revision Control 1K+ · 3.8★ (13) wp.org #22 ↑1 1 too high 24 RSS Control 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 ↑1 6 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.