Published May 2, 2025

How to Test Date Pickers in WordPress (The Smart Way)

Date pickers are a core part of many WordPress forms, whether you’re letting users book appointments, schedule services, select delivery dates, or filter content by time. But despite their common use, date pickers are often tricky to test reliably, especially in automated workflows.

If you’re managing a WooCommerce booking plugin, a custom form built with ACF, or a third-party calendar integration, knowing how to properly test your date picker can save you from frustrating bugs and user complaints.

In this post, we’ll walk through how to manually and automatically test date pickers in WordPress, and what tools (like CheckView) make the process easier and more scalable.

🔍 What Makes Date Pickers Hard to Test?

Date pickers are deceptively complex because:

  • They often rely on JavaScript for calendars, modals, and input masking
  • They may block manual input and require actual calendar clicks
  • Some date pickers use iframes or custom components that don’t respond to basic input commands
  • “Today” is always changing—what works today might not tomorrow

This means testing a date picker isn’t just about entering a value into a field, it’s about mimicking real user interactions with the UI.

✅ How to Manually Test a Date Picker

If you’re testing a date picker by hand (or asking a client to verify it), here’s a simple checklist:

  1. Open the form or booking section Navigate to the form with the date field.
  2. Click into the date input Does the calendar appear? Is it styled correctly?
  3. Try selecting a date
    • Choose today
    • Choose a future date
    • Try a past date (should it be allowed?)
  4. Check formatting Is the selected date shown in the right format (e.g., MM/DD/YYYY)?
  5. Submit the form Ensure the date value is passed correctly and shows up in admin or confirmation emails.
  6. Try mobile Some pickers behave differently on mobile (or default to native pickers).

⚙️ How to Automate Date Picker Testing in WordPress

Manual testing is fine for one-off checks, but if you’re running a real site or managing multiple clients, you need automated testing.

🧪 Testing with Tools Like CheckView

CheckView supports automated testing of date pickers in WordPress by:

  • Clicking into the calendar input field
  • Selecting a date via visible elements (like .ui-datepicker-day, .flatpickr-day, etc.)
  • Filling the field directly if manual entry is allowed

Here’s how you can set it up:

Step 1: Identify the Date Field Selector

Use your browser’s inspect tool to find the CSS selector for the date input field or calendar elements.

input[name="booking_date"]

Step 2: Use a Dynamic or Static Date

In CheckView, you can:

  • Use a static future date like 2025-12-01 to ensure consistency across test runs

Step 3: Add Assertions

After entering the date, assert that:

  • The form accepts the date
  • A confirmation message appears
  • The field displays the correct value

🛠️ Supported WordPress Date Picker Plugins

CheckView and similar tools can test date pickers from:

  • Gravity Forms Date Picker
  • WPForms Date Field
  • Contact Form 7
  • etc.

Note: Some advanced pickers use iframes or Shadow DOMs. If you’re having trouble targeting them, you may need to enable iFrame support or custom step logic in your testing tool.

🧩 Tips for Reliable Date Picker Testing

  • Use fixed dates where possible to ensure consistent test results
  • Avoid hardcoding today’s date it becomes “yesterday” tomorrow
  • Use selectors, not visual clicks, for the most stable automation
  • Whitelist your test IPs or disable CAPTCHA for test environments
  • Test both input and UI interaction if your picker allows both

🚫 Common Pitfalls

  • Date pickers that require hover/click vs. type-in
  • Blocking modals that obscure the field
  • Disabled dates breaking the test flow
  • Misformatted or locale-sensitive dates (e.g., DD/MM vs MM/DD)

Final Thoughts

Date pickers might seem simple, but they can break forms in subtle ways if left untested. Whether you’re managing bookings, deliveries, or event registrations, a broken date field can cause lost sales and frustrated users.

By incorporating automated testing for your WordPress date pickers, especially with tools like CheckView—you can confidently deploy updates, plugins, and form changes without fearing silent breakage.

Want help testing your site’s date fields? Book a free CheckView walkthrough and we’ll show you how to automate the whole process.