CM News vs The Photograph
Two WordPress themes head to head: ranking, active installs, downloads and ratings, from our daily tracking of the WordPress.org directory.
At a glance
The Photograph ranks #161 on the popular list; CM News is outside the top 1,001 we capture daily. The Photograph has the largest install base, roughly 10× the next: 1K+ active installs against 100+ for CM News. Downloads this week: The Photograph 198 and CM News 7.
| Metric | CM News | The Photograph |
|---|---|---|
| Popular rank today | outside top 1001 | #161 ▼ 1 |
| Active installs | 100+ | 1K+ |
| Downloads, last 7 days | 7 | 198 |
| Rating | no ratings | no ratings |
| Type | Block theme | Block theme |
| Last updated | Aug 15, 2024 | May 22, 2026 |
| Current version | 1.0.8 | 1.6 |
| Best rank on record | #3,638 | #127 |
| Days in the top 50 | 0 | 0 |
| On WordPress.org since | Jul 2024 | Oct 2025 |
| Sites detected by our detector | 0 | 1 |
Highlighted cells mark the strongest figure in each row. Rank and installs are from the latest WordPress.org capture; downloads are the last seven captured days.
Ranking history Lower is better
Active installs
Downloads per day
More comparisons
Frequently asked questions
Which is more popular, CM News or The Photograph?
By active installs, The Photograph: 1K+ sites run it against 100+ for CM News, according to WordPress.org figures captured on October 28, 2026.
Is CM News a block theme or a classic theme? And The Photograph?
CM News is a block theme, The Photograph is a block theme. Block themes are built for the Site Editor; classic themes use the Customizer and widget areas.
Where do these numbers come from?
WordPress.org publishes each theme’s active install count and its position on the popular list. This site records both every day, along with per-day downloads and ratings, so the charts above show how the themes have moved over time rather than a single day.