[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 megamenu):

 My 2p: the new search results seem a lot more relevant to me.

 The old search is very easy to game, as a lot (too much?) weighting is put
 on the title. This has led to people renaming their plugins to single
 keywords in order to easily boost their ranking, "slider" is a great
 example:

 Old Search: https://wordpress.org/plugins/search.php?type=term&q=slider
 New Search: https://wordpress.org/plugins-wp/search/slider/

 On the old search, you will find the most relevant and expected results
 grouped onto page 3, with fairly irrelevant results on page 1 and 2
 (unless you are looking for relatively unpopular plugins with exact match
 titles). On the new search, you will find the most relevant results on
 page 1. With the old search, I suspect I could release a plugin called
 "Slider Slider" and get to position one.

 It's a similar story for other popular keywords, e.g. Lightbox, gallery,
 contact form.

 I've been following this thread since the early days, and I must say I
 don't envy those working on this ticket! It seems there are a lot of
 conflicting opinions, some backed up with evidence from the old (also
 imperfect) search. I appreciate the work everyone is putting into it.

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Ticket URL: <https://meta.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/1692#comment:139>
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