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

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 widget”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 2 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 #8 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 15 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

TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy places #7 on merit, 5.0★ from 4625 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #1 2 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #2 3 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #3 4 Chatway Live Chat – AI Chatbot, Customer Support, FAQ & Helpdesk Customer Service & Chat Buttons 30K+ · 5.0★ (775) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too low 5 Helpie FAQ — Accordion, Docs & Knowledge Base 8K+ · 4.5★ (80) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #9 ↑3 3 too low 7 TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625) wp.org #13 ↑7 6 too low 8 Black Studio TinyMCE Widget 200K+ · 4.8★ (191) wp.org #10 ↓2 2 too low 9 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #14 ↓1 5 too low 10 Widgets for Social Photo Feed 10K+ · 4.7★ (28) wp.org #6 ↑4 4 too high 11 Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails 100K+ · 4.8★ (215) wp.org #12 ↑2 1 too low 12 Easy Accordion – AI-Powered FAQ & Accordion Blocks, Product FAQ 70K+ · 4.9★ (358) wp.org #15 ↓6 3 too low 13 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #21 8 too low 14 BetterDocs – AI Documentation, Knowledge Base, MCP Server, Docs, Wikis, FAQ & Chatbot 30K+ · 4.8★ (515) wp.org #20 ↓5 6 too low 15 Happy FAQs – FAQ, Product FAQ & Help Center 1K+ · 4.8★ (23) wp.org #7 ↓2 8 too high 16 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #22 6 too low 17 GR Widget – Google Reviews Widget 900+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #11 6 too high 18 Iks Menu – WordPress Category Accordion Menu & FAQs 10K+ · 5.0★ (27) wp.org #24 ↓1 6 too low 19 Ultimate FAQ Solution 600+ · 4.9★ (9) wp.org #17 ↑1 2 too high 20 S SFN Easy FAQ Manager 2K+ · 4.4★ (12) wp.org #19 ↓2 1 too high 21 Statify Widget 4K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #16 5 too high 22 FAQ Schema – Accordion, Tab, Slider & Gutenberg Block 2K+ · 3.8★ (9) wp.org #23 ↓1 1 too low 23 Advanced FAQ Manager 2K+ · 3.8★ (4) wp.org #8 ↓1 15 too high 24 Awesome FAQ – answer questions before customers ask 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 ↑1 6 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.