Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “post datepicker”

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 “post datepicker”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 of the top 20.

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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Advanced Post Manager shows at wp.org #4 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 4K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.5★ average from 11 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Advanced Shipment Tracking for WooCommerce places #12 on merit, 4.5★ from 355 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 WP Datepicker 6K+ · 4.8★ (37) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 Blog2Social: Social Media Auto Post & Scheduler 40K+ · 4.5★ (2107) wp.org #6 ↑1 4 too low 3 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #8 ↑1 5 too low 4 Custom Post Types and Custom Fields creator – WCK 10K+ · 4.7★ (97) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Event Post 1K+ · 4.3★ (35) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397) wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too low 7 User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor 40K+ · 4.7★ (738) wp.org #10 3 too low 8 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too low 9 Custom Datepicker NMR 1K+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #2 ↓1 7 too high 10 Easy Appointments 10K+ · 4.3★ (131) wp.org #13 3 too low 11 Advanced AJAX Product Filters 50K+ · 4.7★ (387) wp.org #19 ↑1 8 too low 12 Advanced Shipment Tracking for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.5★ (355) wp.org #22 10 too low 13 Advanced Custom Fields: Extended 100K+ · 4.8★ (132) wp.org #20 ↑1 7 too low 14 WC Fields Factory 7K+ · 4.3★ (168) wp.org #18 ↑1 4 too low 15 Booking Activities 3K+ · 5.0★ (121) wp.org #23 8 too low 16 Advanced Post Manager 4K+ · 3.5★ (11) wp.org #4 12 too high 17 B BuddyPress Xprofile Custom Field Types 3K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #12 5 too high 18 Chwazi – Delivery & Pickup Scheduling for WooCommerce 500+ · 5.0★ (30) wp.org #17 ↓1 1 too high 19 Multi Step Form 8K+ · 4.3★ (36) wp.org #16 ↑2 3 too high 20 YMC Filter 4K+ · 4.8★ (34) wp.org #21 ↓4 1 too low 21 Flash Toolkit 10K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #11 10 too high 22 Pure Metafields 10K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #14 8 too high 23 DominoPost – Advanced Post Editor with AI Writer, Link Building Suite, Free Google Search Console & GA4 Analytics 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 8 too high 24 CI BMI Calculator 90+ · 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.