Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “show 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 “show date”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

Nepali Date Utilities shows at wp.org #12 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.7★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Delivery & Pickup Date Time for WooCommerce places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 282 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Show modified Date in admin lists 6K+ · 4.9★ (32) wp.org #1 2 W WP Meta and Date Remover 80K+ · 4.2★ (71) wp.org #2 3 Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012) wp.org #4 ↑3 1 too low 4 WP Date and Time Shortcode 10K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #10 5 too low 6 Parsi Date | بسته فارسی ساز وردپرس و ووکامرس پارسی دیت 100K+ · 4.6★ (130) wp.org #7 ↓3 1 too low 7 Order Delivery Date for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.3★ (61) wp.org #8 1 too low 8 Shortcode for Current Date 10K+ · 5.0★ (116) wp.org #14 ↓1 6 too low 9 Delivery & Pickup Date Time for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.9★ (282) wp.org #20 ↓1 11 too low 10 Weaver Show Posts 5K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #5 5 too high 11 Bangla Date Display 4K+ · 4.6★ (11) wp.org #6 5 too high 12 Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (743) wp.org #23 ↑1 11 too low 13 PI Delivery & Pickup Date Time for WooCommerce 400+ · 4.8★ (90) wp.org #22 ↓1 9 too low 14 WP Hebrew Date 600+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #13 ↓1 1 too high 15 Omnibus — show the lowest price 10K+ · 4.1★ (51) wp.org #24 ↓2 9 too low 16 WPC Estimated Delivery Date for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.0★ (9) wp.org #9 7 too high 17 Nepali Date Converter 800+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #11 6 too high 18 Date Time Picker for Contact Form 7 20K+ · 3.3★ (21) wp.org #18 ↓1 19 Show Pages URL List 1K+ · 4.4★ (8) wp.org #16 ↓1 3 too high 20 First payment date for WooCommerce Subscriptions 400+ · 4.7★ (10) wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too high 21 Users Registration Date – Sortable Users Column 3K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #21 ↓1 22 Nepali Date Utilities 1K+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #12 10 too high 23 Date Time Picker for WPForms 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 ↓1 8 too high 24 Simple Show Date 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓1 7 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.