Trusted WordPress tutorials, when you need them most.
Beginner’s Guide to WordPress
WPB Cup
25 Million+
Websites using our plugins
16+
Years of WordPress experience
3000+
WordPress tutorials
by experts

WordPress.org Now Have Reviews for Plugins and Themes

Editorial Note: We earn a commission from partner links on WPBeginner. Commissions do not affect our editors' opinions or evaluations. Learn more about Editorial Process.

Earlier this month, we wrote an article on our vision for a better and more engaging WordPress plugin directory. This weekend, we are at Tybee Island, GA for the first ever annual WordPress Community Summit organized by the WordPress foundation. Otto (@otto42) finally unveiled the reviews for the WordPress.org themes and plugins directory.

Plugin Review and Ratings

As mentioned in our last article, one of the problems we identified was that people were not held accountable for their actions. They would rate something 1 star and leave. This could be done by a competitor plugin author and since there was no accountability, it was really easy to do it. With the addition of reviews, we will get rid of that problem because it adds accountability to each rating.

A user MUST write a review in order to make their rating count. The profile design is still not updated entirely to integrate this. Currently it just adds your rating in the activity tab where it says: “Started a new topic in WP.org forums”.

Plugin Profile Activity

It would be neat if it says: Rated a plugin “Name of Plugin” – title of rating. Another nice addition would be if it shows rating + reviews under user favorite plugins list.

The reviews feature is really nice because you can always edit your review in the future if need be. Reviews are also threaded, so users can leave a comment on your review if they want. It would be nice to see a functionality like Amazon’s “Did you find this review helpful” to feature top reviews.

We understand that this is the first step in the right direction. Additional feature enhancements will be added in the future. Now the WP.org team has done their job. WordPress is nothing without its community. Please help others by rating and reviewing plugins that you use.

Disclosure: Our content is reader-supported. This means if you click on some of our links, then we may earn a commission. See how WPBeginner is funded, why it matters, and how you can support us. Here's our editorial process.

Editorial Staff

Editorial Staff at WPBeginner is a team of WordPress experts led by Syed Balkhi with over 16 years of experience in WordPress, Web Hosting, eCommerce, SEO, and Marketing. Started in 2009, WPBeginner is now the largest free WordPress resource site in the industry and is often referred to as the Wikipedia for WordPress.

The Ultimate WordPress Toolkit

Get FREE access to our toolkit - a collection of WordPress related products and resources that every professional should have!

Reader Interactions

2 CommentsLeave a Reply

  1. Syed Balkhi says

    Hey WPBeginner readers,
    Did you know you can win exciting prizes by commenting on WPBeginner?
    Every month, our top blog commenters will win HUGE rewards, including premium WordPress plugin licenses and cash prizes.
    You can get more details about the contest from here.
    Start sharing your thoughts below to stand a chance to win!

  2. Waqas Lone says

    Good move…this feature is a must. Everyday we need different plugins to achieve different functionalities and number of downloads and ratings don’t exactly reflect the quality sometimes.

    Also project “CleanUp” should be started for removing poorly coded plugin and themes from wordpress directory. It will help the wordpress community.

Leave A Reply

Thanks for choosing to leave a comment. Please keep in mind that all comments are moderated according to our comment policy, and your email address will NOT be published. Please Do NOT use keywords in the name field. Let's have a personal and meaningful conversation.