wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “theme maker”
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 maker”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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
Shortcodes and extra features for Phlox theme shows at wp.org #17 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 80K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.1★ average from 7 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Quiz Maker by AYS 20K+ · 4.9★ (601)
wp.org #1 ↑1 2 
Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder 600K+ · 4.9★ (4514)
wp.org #2 ↓1 3 
WP Recipe Maker 50K+ · 5.0★ (356)
wp.org #3 4 
Quiz and Survey Master (QSM) – Quiz Maker & Survey Maker 40K+ · 4.7★ (1282)
wp.org #4 5 
Form Maker by 10Web – Mobile-Friendly Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder 30K+ · 4.5★ (778)
wp.org #6 1 too low 6 
Popup Maker – Responsive popup, Exit Intent Pop up, Email Optins, Autoresponder & More 7K+ · 4.5★ (144)
wp.org #5 1 too high 7 
Survey Maker by AYS 5K+ · 4.8★ (79)
wp.org #7 8 
Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (743)
wp.org #11 3 too low 9 
Popup Builder & Popup Maker for WordPress – OptinMonster Email Marketing and Lead Generation 1M+ · 4.3★ (821)
wp.org #9 10 
Quiz Maker, Poll Maker & Survey Maker by Opinion Stage 6K+ · 4.4★ (277)
wp.org #10 11 
Poll Maker by AYS – Versus Polls, Anonymous Polls, Image Polls 6K+ · 4.4★ (91)
wp.org #8 3 too high 12 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #12 13 
Formidable Forms – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Payment, Calculator Form & Custom Form Builder 300K+ · 4.8★ (1388)
wp.org #18 5 too low 14 
Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221)
wp.org #22 ↑2 8 too low 15 
Church Content – Sermons, Events and More 3K+ · 4.9★ (49)
wp.org #15 16 
Easy Modal 7K+ · 4.4★ (124)
wp.org #21 ↓1 5 too low 17 
AI Infographic Maker 600+ · 4.4★ (17) thin reviews
wp.org #13 4 too high 18 
Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) thin reviews
wp.org #19 ↑4 1 too low 19 
Modal Popup Box — Popup Maker & Popup Builder 2K+ · 3.5★ (10) thin reviews
wp.org #14 5 too high 20 
V-Rated OpenGraph Maker 20+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #20 ↓1 21 
Testimonial Customer Feedback 1K+ · 4.0★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #16 5 too high 22 
Quizably – Quiz Maker, Personality Quiz & Survey Builder 200+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #23 ↓2 1 too low 23 
WP Film Studio – WordPress Movie Maker/Production Plugin 200+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #24 ↓2 1 too low 24 Shortcodes and extra features for Phlox theme 80K+ · 2.1★ (7) thin reviews
wp.org #17 7 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.