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

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 “date display”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20. 4 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

WPC Estimated Delivery Date for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #8 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 9 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Content Views – Post Grid & Filter (Shortcode, Blocks, Elementor Widgets) places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 333 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Bangla Date Display 4K+ · 4.6★ (11) wp.org #1 2 WP Date and Time Shortcode 10K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #2 3 پارسی دیت – Parsi Date 100K+ · 4.6★ (130) wp.org #3 4 Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012) wp.org #4 5 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too low 6 Order Delivery Date for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.3★ (61) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 Meta Field Block – Display Custom Fields for ACF, Meta Box and More 10K+ · 5.0★ (57) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 Content Views – Post Grid & Filter (Shortcode, Blocks, Elementor Widgets) 100K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #19 11 too low 9 Display Post Types – Post Grid, post list and post sliders 8K+ · 5.0★ (26) wp.org #11 2 too low 10 VK Post Author Display 10K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #10 11 Nepali Date Converter 800+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #7 ↓1 4 too high 12 Magical Posts Display – Elementor Advanced Posts widgets 3K+ · 4.4★ (10) wp.org #12 13 WP Hebrew Date 600+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #16 ↓1 3 too low 14 Order Delivery Date And Time 1K+ · 4.6★ (19) wp.org #15 ↓1 1 too low 15 WPC Estimated Delivery Date for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.0★ (9) wp.org #8 7 too high 16 Conditional Display for Mobile – Mobile Detect Plugin 1K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #18 2 too low 17 Product Sort and Display for WooCommerce 2K+ · 3.1★ (45) wp.org #22 ↓1 5 too low 18 Nepali Date Utilities 1K+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #13 5 too high 19 Product Delivery Date for WooCommerce – Lite 1K+ · 4.1★ (13) wp.org #21 ↓1 2 too low 20 D Display HTML Sitemap 1K+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #14 ↓1 6 too high 21 Date Picker For Contact Form 7 4K+ · 3.9★ (7) wp.org #17 ↓1 4 too high 22 Advanced Datepicker – Restrict Date for Elementor Forms 800+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #20 ↓2 2 too high 23 Display During Conditional Shortcode 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Date Today Nepali 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 1 too high

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.