WhoKnew Directory SEO – Repository Ranking & Readme Optimizer

WhoKnew Directory SEO tracks your plugin ranking inside the WordPress.org plugin directory — and gives you the tools to improve it. Most developers have no idea where their work appears in the plugin repository search results, or what drives those positions. This changes that.

This plugin is a frontend client for the whoknew.io ranking service. All keyword scans, readme analysis, ranking calculations, and keyword research are performed exclusively on whoknew.io’s servers — this plugin contains no ranking or analysis logic of its own. An internet connection to whoknew.io is required for any scan or analysis to run.

The ranking process requires querying the WordPress.org Plugin Directory API across a shared, rate-limited infrastructure, running a multi-signal scoring algorithm against hundreds of results, and caching those results in a shared pool so every user’s scan benefits from work already done for the same keyword. This cannot be replicated locally inside a WordPress plugin — doing so would require every user’s own server IP to hit WordPress.org directly for each scan, risking individual rate-limiting or blocking by WordPress.org. whoknew.io absorbs that infrastructure cost centrally.

Usage is governed by the whoknew.io Terms of Service and Privacy Policy (linked in the External Services section below).

The plugin directory indexes 7 specific fields in your readme and weighs them differently. Every field you’re missing is a ranking signal your competitors are using against you. WhoKnew shows you exactly which fields are covered and which aren’t — so you know precisely what to fix.

The free service plan includes:

• Keyword Scan — Enter your slug and a keyword to see your exact position in the plugin directory search. Track your plugin ranking for every term that matters to you.
• Readme Optimizer — See which of the 7 indexed readme fields contain your keyword and which don’t. Get concrete, field-by-field suggestions to improve your coverage and climb the repository rankings.
• How Ranking Works — A transparent explainer of the repository’s two-phase algorithm: relevance score (keyword coverage across your readme and metadata) and quality score (active installs, support threads, rating, freshness, compatibility).

The free whoknew.io service plan includes 10 API credits per month. Each scan or readme analysis consumes one credit — this reflects real processing performed on whoknew.io’s servers (querying the WordPress.org Plugin Directory API, running the ranking algorithm, and caching results). Upgrade to a paid plan for higher credit limits, competitor keyword intelligence, AI readme suggestions, and full ranking history with visual diffs.

External Services

This plugin contacts the following external services. No connection is made until you perform an action that requires it (a scan, a readme analysis, or a daily background sync). No data is sent passively on page load.

WhoKnew.io Ranking API (whoknew.io)

whoknew.io provides the ranking infrastructure this plugin depends on. It accepts scan requests from the plugin, queries the WordPress.org Plugin Directory API from its own servers, runs the multi-signal scoring algorithm, caches results in a shared pool, and returns ranked data to the plugin for display. None of this processing occurs inside the plugin or on the user’s WordPress installation.

When contacted:

• When you run a keyword scan — whoknew.io performs the full ranking analysis on its servers and records one API credit against your service account.
• When you run a Readme Analysis — whoknew.io analyses your readme content against a keyword on its servers.
• Once per day via a background task (WordPress Cron) — to sync your API credit balance locally so the plugin does not need to contact the service on every page load.
• When you click “Test connection” in Settings — to verify connectivity and retrieve the current credit balance.
• (Pro only) When you activate, deactivate, or refresh your licence — to validate the licence key and retrieve a JWT token used for higher service-tier credit limits.

Data sent: your site URL (used as an anonymous domain identifier for API credit tracking), the plugin slug and keyword you scan, and — for Pro users — a licence key and a signed JWT token. No personally identifiable visitor data is transmitted.

Service: https://whoknew.io Privacy policy: https://whoknew.io/privacy/ Terms of service: https://whoknew.io/terms/

WordPress.org Plugin Directory API (api.wordpress.org)

When contacted:

• When you run a keyword scan — whoknew.io contacts the WordPress.org Plugin Directory API from its own servers to retrieve live search results, then scores and returns your ranking position.
• When you look up a plugin by slug or name in the Scan or Readme Optimizer tabs — your browser contacts api.wordpress.org directly (client-side) to fetch public plugin metadata. No credits are consumed and whoknew.io is not involved.
• When the Readme Optimizer loads a plugin’s readme.txt — your WordPress installation fetches it directly from plugins.svn.wordpress.org. No credits are consumed and whoknew.io is not involved.
• When using the Competitor Keyword Spy feature (Pro) — whoknew.io contacts the WordPress.org Plugin Directory API on your behalf for each competitor keyword scan.

All WordPress.org API requests made during a ranking scan originate from whoknew.io’s servers (not your WordPress installation), using the public plugins/info/1.2/ and query_plugins endpoints. Results are cached on whoknew.io’s servers for up to 6 hours and shared across all users scanning the same keyword, minimising total requests to WordPress.org.

Data sent: the search keyword, plugin slug, locale, and a standard WordPress HTTP user-agent string. No account credentials or personal data are sent.

Service: https://api.wordpress.org Privacy policy: https://wordpress.org/about/privacy/

Affiliate Program

Earn 30% commission promoting WhoKnew™ plugins. Instant approval, real-time tracking, monthly payouts. Sign up free: https://whoknew.io/affiliates/

Third-Party Libraries

WhoKnew Directory SEO includes the following third-party libraries to enhance functionality and provide a better user experience. All minified files below link to their publicly accessible source code:

Chart.js (v4.5.1) – Author: Chart.js Contributors – Source: https://github.com/chartjs/Chart.js/tree/v4.5.1 – Minified Files: chart.min.js – License: MIT License – License URI: https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT – Location: /assets/js/vendor/chart.min.js

diff / jsdiff (v5.2.0) – Author: Kevin Decker and contributors – Source: https://github.com/kpdecker/jsdiff/tree/v5.2.0 – Minified Files: diff.min.js – License: BSD 3-Clause License – License URI: https://opensource.org/licenses/BSD-3-Clause – Location: /assets/js/vendor/diff.min.js

All included libraries are used under their respective open-source licenses, which are compatible with this plugin’s GPL-2.0-or-later licensing.