[wp-meta] [Making WordPress.org] #1692: Plugin search quality improvements

[Making WordPress.org]

#1692: Plugin search quality improvements
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 Reporter:  tellyworth                           |       Owner:  tellyworth
     Type:  enhancement                          |      Status:  assigned
 Priority:  normal                               |   Milestone:  Plugin
Component:  Plugin Directory                     |  Directory v3.0
 Keywords:  dev-feedback needs-docs 2nd-opinion  |  Resolution:
  needs-testing                                  |
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Comment (by gibrown):

 @nerrad thanks for continuing this conversation. Its likely our
 fundamental disagreement here is between what a developer sees when
 searching vs what someone who is non technical would see. An old WP
 argument, just wanted to acknowledge it. It's a hard balance. I'm sure
 we'll have to continue iterating on all of this.

 The fundamental way I approach search is that when a user takes any time
 to put something into a search box, we should be trying to infer and
 answer their question as best we can. We're providing answers, and the
 first answer we give matters a lot.

 So as an example let's compare "stats". It is the 13th most common search
 on .org, at about 93k times a year.

 https://wordpress.org/plugins/search.php?type=term&q=stats

 https://wordpress.org/plugins-wp/search/stats/

 There are really only two options in the world that can work for a hundred
 thousand sites a year: Google Analytics and Jetpack. Neither of those show
 up on the old search page. Yes, there are also some other players that are
 great - especially in certain niches. But scaling stats is really hard and
 pretty expensive which is why there are not many. I can go and look at
 almost any common search term on .org, and I see this exact same pattern.
 Its not just how do we satisfy this current user, but how do we satisfy
 100k users. What plugins can support that volume of users and give them a
 great WordPress experience?

 So yes, if the user does multiple searches and narrows down their results,
 then they can find those better plugins, but most users are trained by
 Google. They will see that first page of results and think that is all
 there is. Most users never get off the first search results page. You can
 see this in the user testing: https://make.wordpress.org/meta/2016/11/08
 /plugin-directory-user-testing-round-1/ They don't refine their searches,
 they go after the first few results and then they decide.

 So from my perspective the current search is not at all answering the
 question of "what plugin would serve me best for tracking stats on my
 website?". Everyone seems to agree that the new search is significantly
 better. Personally, I still think it is pretty bad and has lots of room
 for improvements, but its a good start.

 We're working on adding more stats tracking to the search pages also so we
 can get more hard data. I agree this is a tough conversation to have
 without more data about what users click on.

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Ticket URL: <https://meta.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/1692#comment:95>
Making WordPress.org <https://meta.trac.wordpress.org/>
Making WordPress.org