Today is normally Thank a Plugin Author Day which motivates users to thank plugin authors but based on discussions from last year’s event, I’ve decided to add theme authors to the mix. The purpose of the day is simple, give thanks and express gratitude to WordPress plugin and theme developers.
There are several ways to celebrate the event, such as visiting the plugin or theme author’s website. The link is usually available via the plugin or theme’s page on WordPress.org. If you’ve discovered a useful plugin, consider giving the author a monetary donation.
Another way to thank plugin and theme authors is to rate and review their work. Ratings and reviews are an easy way to send feedback directly to an author. Make sure to provide actionable feedback instead of one or two-word reviews. A side effect of rating and reviewing plugins and themes, is that it’s one of many ways to contribute back to WordPress.

The WordPress theme directory has more than 2k themes while the plugin directory has nearly 47k plugins. That’s a lot of volunteer time, effort, and code donated to the community.
Thank you to anyone who has ever published a WordPress plugin or theme whether it’s on one of the official directories or on GitHub. Without them, users wouldn’t be able to customize WordPress to make it their own.
I’m lazy. So I hereby thank every plugin author or theme author on this planet and wish you all great success in 2016!