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

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 time”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Date Time Picker for WPForms shows at wp.org #4 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 1K+ 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

Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security places #9 on merit, 4.7★ from 5039 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #1 2 WP Date and Time Shortcode 10K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #2 3 Delivery & Pickup Date Time for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.9★ (282) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #9 ↓2 5 too low 5 پارسی دیت – Parsi Date 100K+ · 4.6★ (130) wp.org #10 ↑3 5 too low 6 W WP Meta and Date Remover 80K+ · 4.2★ (71) wp.org #8 ↑1 2 too low 7 PI Delivery & Pickup Date Time for WooCommerce 400+ · 4.8★ (90) wp.org #7 ↑1 8 Date Time Picker for Contact Form 7 20K+ · 3.3★ (21) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #23 ↓2 14 too low 10 Real-Time Find and Replace 70K+ · 4.5★ (82) wp.org #18 8 too low 11 Order Delivery Date And Time 1K+ · 4.6★ (19) wp.org #6 5 too high 12 Delivery Date Time & Pickup for WooCommerce 400+ · 4.2★ (113) wp.org #12 ↓1 13 Order Delivery Date for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.3★ (61) wp.org #11 ↓1 2 too high 14 Persian Date 2K+ · 4.5★ (16) wp.org #15 1 too low 15 WP Time Slots Booking Form 1K+ · 5.0★ (41) wp.org #20 5 too low 16 Bangla Date Display 4K+ · 4.6★ (11) wp.org #13 ↓1 3 too high 17 Date Time Picker for WPForms 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #4 ↓1 13 too high 18 Widget Visibility Time Scheduler 1K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #17 ↓1 1 too high 19 WPC Estimated Delivery Date for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.0★ (9) wp.org #16 ↑1 3 too high 20 Date Time Field Add-On for Gravity Form 1K+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #22 2 too low 21 Auto Update Post Date 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 2 too high 22 Order Delivery Date Time & Pickup for WooCommerce 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 8 too high 23 Advanced Date Time Field For Contact Form 7, Gravity Forms, WPForms, Elementor & Fluent Forms 80+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 2 too high 24 W WP Server Date Time 80+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24

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.