wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “jquery 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 “jquery faq”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 17 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
Joli FAQ SEO – WordPress FAQ Plugin shows at wp.org #4 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 600+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 2528 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Helpie FAQ — Accordion, Docs & Knowledge Base 8K+ · 4.5★ (80)
wp.org #2 3 
Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588)
wp.org #7 4 too low 4 
Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962)
wp.org #16 ↓1 12 too low 5 
Arconix FAQ 6K+ · 4.7★ (79)
wp.org #9 ↓1 4 too low 6 F FAQ Block For Gutenberg 4K+ · 4.4★ (8) thin reviews
wp.org #3 3 too high 7 
PDF Invoices & Packing Slips for WooCommerce 300K+ · 5.0★ (1865)
wp.org #19 ↓1 12 too low 8 
Schema & Structured Data for WP & AMP 100K+ · 4.5★ (252)
wp.org #15 ↓2 7 too low 9 
jQuery Post Splitter 100+ · 4.6★ (37)
wp.org #8 ↑11 1 too high 10 
Ultimate FAQ Solution 600+ · 4.9★ (9) thin reviews
wp.org #5 5 too high 11 Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528)
wp.org #24 13 too low 12 
Page scroll to id 100K+ · 4.9★ (225)
wp.org #22 ↓1 10 too low 13 
Lightbox for Gallery & Image Block 20K+ · 5.0★ (88)
wp.org #21 ↓1 8 too low 14 S SFN Easy FAQ Manager 2K+ · 4.4★ (12) thin reviews
wp.org #6 8 too high 15 Joli FAQ SEO – WordPress FAQ Plugin 600+ · 4.2★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #4 11 too high 16 
Easy Accordion Block – Accordion, FAQ & Collapsible Content for the Block Editor 7K+ · 4.4★ (16) thin reviews
wp.org #10 ↓1 6 too high 17 
Smart Grid-Layout Design for Contact Form 7 10K+ · 4.5★ (72)
wp.org #20 ↑3 3 too low 18 
Accordions – Responsive Accordion & FAQ Plugin for WordPress 1K+ · 4.6★ (10) thin reviews
wp.org #12 ↑2 6 too high 19 
Product FAQ for WooCommerce — Tab, Accordion & AI FAQ Generator 80+ · 4.8★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #11 ↓1 8 too high 20 
Accordion FAQ with Category 100+ · 4.0★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #13 ↓2 7 too high 21 
Gutena Accordion – Beautiful FAQ Accordion Block 5K+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #17 ↓1 4 too high 22 
Accordion FAQ – FAQ Schema, Block & Shortcode with Live Search 100+ · 3.3★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #14 ↓2 8 too high 23 
Accordly – Smart FAQ Schema 30+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews
wp.org #18 ↓1 5 too high 24 W WP FAQ 100+ · 3.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #23 ↓1 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.