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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “modified 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 “modified date”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Lock Last Modified Date shows at wp.org #4 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 18 places. Its 80+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin places #3 on merit, 4.8★ from 8706 reviews, but shows at wp.org #10. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP Last Modified Info 40K+ · 4.9★ (854) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Show modified Date in admin lists 6K+ · 4.9★ (32) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #10 ↑3 7 too low 4 WP Date and Time Shortcode 10K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Export All URLs 50K+ · 4.6★ (94) wp.org #9 ↑1 3 too low 7 Change Last Modified Date 3K+ · 4.3★ (12) wp.org #3 4 too high 8 WP Bulk Delete 90K+ · 4.6★ (131) wp.org #12 ↑5 4 too low 9 Last Modified Timestamp 6K+ · 5.0★ (28) wp.org #8 ↑1 1 too high 10 Order Delivery Date for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.3★ (61) wp.org #6 4 too high 11 WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346) wp.org #17 ↑3 6 too low 12 Advanced Queries 10K+ · 4.9★ (40) wp.org #14 ↑1 2 too low 13 Enable Media Replace 600K+ · 4.4★ (302) wp.org #18 ↓7 5 too low 14 Search Regex 100K+ · 4.7★ (101) wp.org #22 ↓1 8 too low 15 P Page-list 30K+ · 4.7★ (89) wp.org #23 ↑1 8 too low 16 Dynamic Month & Year into Posts 8K+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #13 ↑3 3 too high 17 Post Date Randomizer 8K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #11 ↑1 6 too high 18 HTML Page Sitemap (Block and Shortcode) 10K+ · 4.4★ (24) wp.org #16 ↑2 2 too high 19 List Last Changes 1K+ · 4.8★ (11) wp.org #19 20 More Sorting Options for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.3★ (11) wp.org #15 ↓1 5 too high 21 FileBird Document Library 5K+ · 4.9★ (8) wp.org #20 1 too high 22 Lock Last Modified Date 80+ · 4.0★ (1) wp.org #4 18 too high 23 DateSweep – Bulk Update Post & Page Dates 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 2 too high 24 XML Sitemaps Manager 400+ · 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.