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

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 with shortcode”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

FAQ Schema Shortcode shows at wp.org #9 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 27821 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 Easy Accordion – AI-Powered FAQ & Accordion Blocks, Product FAQ 70K+ · 4.9★ (358) wp.org #1 2 Shortcodes Ultimate – Content Elements 400K+ · 4.9★ (5925) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625) wp.org #8 4 too low 5 Happy FAQs – FAQ, Product FAQ & Help Center 1K+ · 4.8★ (23) wp.org #2 3 too high 6 Helpie FAQ — Accordion, Docs & Knowledge Base 8K+ · 4.5★ (80) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 Ultimate FAQ Accordion Plugin 30K+ · 4.6★ (439) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 The Events Calendar Shortcode & Block 10K+ · 4.7★ (101) wp.org #12 4 too low 9 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #22 13 too low 10 Shortcoder — Create Shortcodes for Anything 100K+ · 4.9★ (227) wp.org #17 7 too low 11 BetterDocs – AI Documentation, Knowledge Base, MCP Server, Docs, Wikis, FAQ & Chatbot 30K+ · 4.8★ (515) wp.org #18 7 too low 12 Video Conferencing with Zoom 10K+ · 4.8★ (217) wp.org #21 9 too low 13 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #19 6 too low 14 Quick and Easy FAQs 10K+ · 4.6★ (36) wp.org #11 3 too high 15 Current Year, Symbols and IP Shortcode 10K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #7 8 too high 16 Ultimate FAQ Solution 600+ · 4.9★ (9) wp.org #14 2 too high 17 S SFN Easy FAQ Manager 2K+ · 4.4★ (12) wp.org #16 1 too high 18 FAQly – Ultimate FAQ 1K+ · 3.8★ (5) wp.org #10 8 too high 19 FAQ Schema – Accordion, Tab, Slider & Gutenberg Block 2K+ · 3.8★ (9) wp.org #20 1 too low 20 Joli FAQ SEO – WordPress FAQ Plugin 600+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #15 5 too high 21 MachForm Shortcode 300+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 FAQ Schema Shortcode 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 13 too high 23 Awesome FAQ – answer questions before customers ask 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 10 too high 24 FAQ Manager For Divi, Gutenberg Block & Shortcode 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 1 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.