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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “wp dark”

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 “wp dark”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Dark Reader – Beautiful Dark Mode for any Website shows at wp.org #9 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

AI-Powered Carousel, Slider, Video & Photo Gallery Blocks by WP Carousel places #10 on merit, 4.7★ from 434 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Dark Mode – Improve Accessibility with AI Powered Dark Theme 20K+ · 4.5★ (391) wp.org #1 2 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3 Dark Mode for WP Dashboard 3K+ · 4.8★ (34) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too high 4 FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #4 ↑1 5 WP-PageNavi 400K+ · 4.7★ (149) wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too low 6 Hide My WP Ghost – Security & Firewall 100K+ · 4.5★ (373) wp.org #10 ↑4 4 too low 7 WP ULike – Like Buttons, Voting & Engagement Analytics 60K+ · 4.8★ (283) wp.org #11 4 too low 8 hCaptcha for WP 70K+ · 4.6★ (88) wp.org #8 ↑1 9 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #15 ↓3 6 too low 10 AI-Powered Carousel, Slider, Video & Photo Gallery Blocks by WP Carousel 60K+ · 4.7★ (434) wp.org #17 7 too low 11 Dark Mode Toggle 2K+ · 4.6★ (19) wp.org #6 ↑2 5 too high 12 Darklup – Enhanced WordPress Dark Mode, Dark Theme, Night Mode & Accessibility Plugin 1K+ · 4.5★ (44) wp.org #5 ↑2 7 too high 13 WP-PostRatings 20K+ · 4.4★ (178) wp.org #13 ↑3 14 WP-Polls 40K+ · 4.2★ (136) wp.org #12 ↑1 2 too high 15 WP YouTube Lyte 20K+ · 4.8★ (206) wp.org #23 ↑1 8 too low 16 WP-DBManager 50K+ · 4.4★ (95) wp.org #18 2 too low 17 WP Dashboard Notes 20K+ · 4.6★ (110) wp.org #22 ↑1 5 too low 18 Backup and Staging by WP Time Capsule 10K+ · 4.0★ (128) wp.org #20 2 too low 19 WP Video Lightbox 30K+ · 4.3★ (67) wp.org #19 20 WP Social Ninja – Embed Social Feeds, User Reviews & Chat Widgets 30K+ · 4.8★ (71) wp.org #24 4 too low 21 Darkify – Dark Mode & Night Mode for Website & Admin (Dark Theme Included) 1K+ · 4.7★ (27) wp.org #16 ↑1 5 too high 22 WP-Print 8K+ · 4.4★ (41) wp.org #21 1 too high 23 DarkLooks – Dark Mode Switcher For WordPress 800+ · 4.8★ (16) wp.org #14 ↑1 9 too high 24 Dark Reader – Beautiful Dark Mode for any Website 200+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #9 ↑1 15 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.