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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “faq”

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

Advanced FAQ Manager shows at wp.org #12 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.8★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 7520 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 Contact Form 7 10M+ · 4.0★ (2186) wp.org #1 2 Chatway Live Chat – AI Chatbot, Customer Support, FAQ & Helpdesk Customer Service & Chat Buttons 30K+ · 5.0★ (775) wp.org #2 3 Easy Accordion – AI-Powered FAQ & Accordion Blocks, Product FAQ 70K+ · 4.9★ (358) wp.org #5 ↓2 2 too low 4 Ultimate FAQ Accordion Plugin 30K+ · 4.6★ (439) wp.org #4 ↑2 5 BetterDocs – AI Documentation, Knowledge Base, MCP Server, Docs, Wikis, FAQ & Chatbot 30K+ · 4.8★ (515) wp.org #8 ↓4 3 too low 6 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #13 ↑4 7 too low 7 Happy FAQs – FAQ, Product FAQ & Help Center 1K+ · 4.8★ (23) wp.org #3 ↑2 4 too high 8 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #11 ↑7 3 too low 9 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #9 ↓2 10 Helpie FAQ — Accordion, Docs & Knowledge Base 8K+ · 4.5★ (80) wp.org #6 ↑2 4 too high 11 TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625) wp.org #18 ↑5 7 too low 12 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7520) wp.org #23 ↓1 11 too low 13 Echo Knowledge Base – Documentation, FAQs, Chat & Smart Search 10K+ · 4.9★ (124) wp.org #19 ↓4 6 too low 14 Quick and Easy FAQs 10K+ · 4.6★ (36) wp.org #10 4 too high 15 F FAQ Block For Gutenberg 4K+ · 4.4★ (8) wp.org #7 ↑2 8 too high 16 Iks Menu – WordPress Category Accordion Menu & FAQs 10K+ · 5.0★ (27) wp.org #22 ↓1 6 too low 17 Ultimate FAQ Solution 600+ · 4.9★ (9) wp.org #16 ↓2 1 too high 18 S SFN Easy FAQ Manager 2K+ · 4.4★ (12) wp.org #24 ↓5 6 too low 19 FAQ Schema – Accordion, Tab, Slider & Gutenberg Block 2K+ · 3.8★ (9) wp.org #21 ↑3 2 too low 20 Joli FAQ SEO – WordPress FAQ Plugin 600+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #17 ↑3 3 too high 21 FAQly – Ultimate FAQ 1K+ · 3.8★ (5) wp.org #14 ↓2 7 too high 22 Advanced FAQ Manager 2K+ · 3.8★ (4) wp.org #12 ↓1 10 too high 23 Convert Rank Math FAQ to Accordion 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #20 ↓4 3 too high 24 Awesome FAQ – answer questions before customers ask 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 ↓2 9 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.