wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “theme per user”
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 per user”, 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
Theme per user shows at wp.org #1 but places #12 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 60+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.7★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
User Submitted Posts – Enable Users to Submit Posts from the Front End places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 913 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
User Registration & Membership – Free & Paid Memberships, Subscriptions, Content Restriction, User Profile, Custom User Registration & Login Builder 50K+ · 4.8★ (832)
wp.org #2 ↑2 1 too low 2 
Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445)
wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too low 3 
Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5040)
wp.org #4 ↑2 1 too low 4 
Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery 300K+ · 4.3★ (4342)
wp.org #5 1 too low 5 
Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281)
wp.org #6 ↓5 1 too low 6 
User Frontend – Membership, User Registration, User Profile, User Directory & Content Restriction with Frontend Post Submission 20K+ · 4.1★ (537)
wp.org #7 ↑6 1 too low 7 
WP User Manager – Registration Form, Login Form, User Profile Builder & Member Directory 10K+ · 4.7★ (350)
wp.org #9 ↓2 2 too low 8 
Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667)
wp.org #11 ↑4 3 too low 9 
Theme Editor 50K+ · 4.6★ (128)
wp.org #10 ↓2 1 too low 10 User Submitted Posts – Enable Users to Submit Posts from the Front End 10K+ · 4.8★ (913)
wp.org #16 ↓2 6 too low 11 
Login as User: See the Site as Any User 30K+ · 4.8★ (41)
wp.org #8 ↑1 3 too high 12 Theme per user 60+ · 3.7★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #1 ↑2 11 too high 13 
Open User Map – Interactive Leaflet Maps 10K+ · 5.0★ (70)
wp.org #13 ↓2 14 
TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667)
wp.org #20 ↓1 6 too low 15 
Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423)
wp.org #19 4 too low 16 
ProfileGrid – User Profiles, Groups and Communities 5K+ · 4.6★ (236)
wp.org #18 ↓1 2 too low 17 
LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778)
wp.org #23 6 too low 18 
User Admin Simplifier 10K+ · 5.0★ (31)
wp.org #14 ↓2 4 too high 19 
UsersWP – Front-end login form, User Registration, User Profile & Members Directory plugin for WP 20K+ · 4.7★ (183)
wp.org #21 ↓1 2 too low 20 
Child Theme Configurator 300K+ · 4.7★ (280)
wp.org #24 ↓2 4 too low 21 
Activity Log – Monitor User and Agent Changes 200K+ · 4.3★ (74)
wp.org #15 ↑3 6 too high 22 
User Posts Limit 3K+ · 5.0★ (13) thin reviews
wp.org #17 ↓1 5 too high 23 
Weaver Xtreme Theme Support 8K+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #12 ↓2 11 too high 24 
Product Visibility by User Role for WooCommerce 6K+ · 3.8★ (21) thin reviews
wp.org #22 ↑1 2 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.