Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “current date”

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 “current date”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 5 plugins are 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

Auto Update Post Date shows at wp.org #5 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner places #7 on merit, 4.7★ from 1667 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Shortcode for Current Date 10K+ · 5.0★ (116) wp.org #1 2 WP Date and Time Shortcode 10K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Current Year, Symbols and IP Shortcode 10K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Bangla Date Display 4K+ · 4.6★ (11) wp.org #4 5 Order Delivery Date for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.3★ (61) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Delivery & Pickup Date Time for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.9★ (282) wp.org #14 ↑3 8 too low 7 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #22 ↑2 15 too low 8 Search Regex 100K+ · 4.7★ (101) wp.org #18 10 too low 9 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #17 8 too low 10 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #19 ↓3 9 too low 11 WP Hebrew Date 600+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #10 ↑1 1 too high 12 Order Delivery Date And Time 1K+ · 4.6★ (19) wp.org #9 3 too high 13 Current Year Shortcode VICT 800+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #7 6 too high 14 Availability Datepicker – Booking Calendar for Contact Form 7 – Input WP 10K+ · 4.1★ (42) wp.org #23 ↓2 9 too low 15 Nepali Date Utilities 1K+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #8 7 too high 16 Auto Update Post Date 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #5 11 too high 17 Product Delivery Date for WooCommerce – Lite 1K+ · 4.1★ (13) wp.org #16 ↓1 1 too high 18 Advanced Datepicker – Restrict Date for Elementor Forms 900+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #11 ↓3 7 too high 19 Restrict Dates Add-On for Gravity Forms 500+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #20 ↓1 1 too low 20 Republish Old Posts 2K+ · 4.3★ (12) wp.org #21 ↓1 1 too low 21 Date Picker For Contact Form 7 4K+ · 3.9★ (7) wp.org #12 9 too high 22 Advanced Datepicker – Restricts Date for WPForms 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #13 ↓1 9 too high 23 Date Today Nepali 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 ↓2 8 too high 24 W WP Server Date Time 80+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24 ↓2

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.