I won't really get into the freemium vs premium subject matter because that is a whole other topic that is separate from what this article is about.

For a very long time, I've noticed and kept track (somewhat) of the popular list. I know many people over the years have been upset with the fact the WP default themes are even on that list and often feel the popular list should be for theme authors outside from the default themes. I've even complained that the "Featured List" still has the TwentySixteen theme in it, taking up a space that could be used for other authors.

However, what is frustrating is that over the last couple of months, authors are seeing new themes getting in the upper echelon of the popular list with a showing of 5000, 10,000, even 30,000 active installs (If you don't think being there is generating a lot of $$$ for them, you're crazy!). Right now there's at least 7 themes that should not be where they are based on how many downloads they are showing; one being Primer which is by Godaddy...as many know, was allowed to jump the queue ahead of every theme author that are waiting months for their themes to get reviewed. Of course, that is a whole other story that WPTavern posted recently and what is done is done.

Seeing themes get positioned high up in the popular list is very frustrating for many authors, especially when we know they found loopholes, whether a bug in the system or simply finding out how to game the system by taking advantage of either scenario. Some authors feel like giving up and walking away from .org.

I don't know how the system is coded, but I know it's very old and more likely outdated. I would imagine that making changes is not easy with band aid fixes or find and fix loopholes without causing some kind of conflict, but it almost looks like it would be better to simply build a whole new theme directory from the ground up and start new.