diff --git a/lib/groups/groupsbymemberssection.php b/lib/groups/groupsbymemberssection.php
index ef04468b17..f9dff27feb 100644
--- a/lib/groups/groupsbymemberssection.php
+++ b/lib/groups/groupsbymemberssection.php
@@ -38,11 +38,15 @@ class GroupsByMembersSection extends GroupSection
     {
         $limit = GROUPS_PER_SECTION;
 
-        $qry = 'SELECT user_group.*, COUNT(*) AS value ' .
-            'FROM user_group INNER JOIN group_member '.
-            'ON user_group.id = group_member.group_id ' .
-            'GROUP BY user_group.id, user_group.nickname, user_group.fullname, user_group.homepage, user_group.description, user_group.location, user_group.original_logo, user_group.homepage_logo, user_group.stream_logo, user_group.mini_logo, user_group.created, user_group.modified ' .
-            'ORDER BY value DESC LIMIT ' . $limit;
+        $qry = <<<END
+            SELECT *
+              FROM user_group INNER JOIN (
+                SELECT group_id AS id, COUNT(group_id) AS value
+                  FROM group_member
+                  GROUP BY group_id
+              ) AS t1 USING (id)
+              ORDER BY value DESC LIMIT {$limit};
+            END;
 
         $group = Memcached_DataObject::cachedQuery('User_group', $qry, 3600);
         return $group;
diff --git a/lib/groups/groupsbypostssection.php b/lib/groups/groupsbypostssection.php
index e2a75eedec..402f18be38 100644
--- a/lib/groups/groupsbypostssection.php
+++ b/lib/groups/groupsbypostssection.php
@@ -1,70 +1,66 @@
 <?php
+// This file is part of GNU social - https://www.gnu.org/software/social
+//
+// GNU social is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+// it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by
+// the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+// (at your option) any later version.
+//
+// GNU social is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+// GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+// along with GNU social.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
 /**
- * StatusNet, the distributed open-source microblogging tool
- *
  * Groups with the most posts section
  *
- * PHP version 5
- *
- * LICENCE: This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
- * it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by
- * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
- * (at your option) any later version.
- *
- * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
- * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
- * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
- * GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
- *
- * You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
- * along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
- *
  * @category  Widget
- * @package   StatusNet
+ * @package   GNUsocial
  * @author    Evan Prodromou <evan@status.net>
  * @copyright 2009 StatusNet, Inc.
- * @license   http://www.fsf.org/licensing/licenses/agpl-3.0.html GNU Affero General Public License version 3.0
- * @link      http://status.net/
+ * @license   https://www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl.html GNU AGPL v3 or later
  */
 
-if (!defined('STATUSNET') && !defined('LACONICA')) {
-    exit(1);
-}
+defined('GNUSOCIAL') || die();
 
 /**
  * Groups with the most posts section
  *
- * @category Widget
- * @package  StatusNet
- * @author   Evan Prodromou <evan@status.net>
- * @license  http://www.fsf.org/licensing/licenses/agpl-3.0.html GNU Affero General Public License version 3.0
- * @link     http://status.net/
+ * @category  Widget
+ * @package   GNUsocial
+ * @author    Evan Prodromou <evan@status.net>
+ * @license   https://www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl.html GNU AGPL v3 or later
  */
 class GroupsByPostsSection extends GroupSection
 {
-    function getGroups()
+    public function getGroups()
     {
         $limit = GROUPS_PER_SECTION;
 
-        $qry = 'SELECT user_group.*, count(*) as value ' .
-          'FROM user_group JOIN group_inbox '.
-          'ON user_group.id = group_inbox.group_id ' .
-          'GROUP BY user_group.id,user_group.nickname,user_group.fullname,user_group.homepage,user_group.description,user_group.location,user_group.original_logo,user_group.homepage_logo,user_group.stream_logo,user_group.mini_logo,user_group.created,user_group.modified ' .
-          'ORDER BY value DESC LIMIT ' . $limit;
+        $qry = <<<END
+            SELECT *
+              FROM user_group INNER JOIN (
+                SELECT group_id AS id, COUNT(group_id) AS value
+                  FROM group_inbox
+                  GROUP BY group_id
+              ) AS t1 USING (id)
+              ORDER BY value DESC LIMIT {$limit};
+            END;
 
-        $group = Memcached_DataObject::cachedQuery('User_group',
-                                                   $qry,
-                                                   3600);
+        $group = Memcached_DataObject::cachedQuery('User_group', $qry, 3600);
         return $group;
     }
 
-    function title()
+    public function title()
     {
         // TRANS: Title for groups with the most posts section.
         return _('Active groups');
     }
 
-    function divId()
+    public function divId()
     {
         return 'top_groups_by_post';
     }
diff --git a/lib/ui/topposterssection.php b/lib/ui/topposterssection.php
index 65ce7a2223..a48fc3234e 100644
--- a/lib/ui/topposterssection.php
+++ b/lib/ui/topposterssection.php
@@ -41,11 +41,19 @@ class TopPostersSection extends ProfileSection
     {
         $limit = PROFILES_PER_SECTION;
 
-        $qry = 'SELECT profile.*, COUNT(*) AS value ' .
-            'FROM profile JOIN notice ON profile.id = notice.profile_id ' .
-            (common_config('public', 'localonly') ? 'WHERE is_local = 1 ' : '') .
-            'GROUP BY profile.id, nickname, fullname, profileurl, homepage, bio, location, profile.created, profile.modified ' .
-            'ORDER BY value DESC LIMIT ' . $limit;
+        $qry = sprintf(
+            <<<'END'
+            SELECT *
+              FROM profile INNER JOIN (
+                SELECT profile_id AS id, COUNT(profile_id) AS value
+                  FROM notice
+                  %1$sGROUP BY profile_id
+              ) AS t1 USING (id)
+              ORDER BY value DESC LIMIT %2$d;
+            END,
+            (common_config('public', 'localonly') ? 'WHERE notice.is_local = 1 ' : ''),
+            $limit
+        );
 
         $profile = Memcached_DataObject::cachedQuery('Profile', $qry, 6 * 3600);
         return $profile;
diff --git a/plugins/GroupFavorited/actions/groupfavorited.php b/plugins/GroupFavorited/actions/groupfavorited.php
index 0141c6a79e..9e2a50ff9c 100644
--- a/plugins/GroupFavorited/actions/groupfavorited.php
+++ b/plugins/GroupFavorited/actions/groupfavorited.php
@@ -62,20 +62,25 @@ class GroupFavoritedAction extends ShowgroupAction
         $groupId = (int)$this->group->id;
         $weightexpr = common_sql_weight('fave.modified', common_config('popular', 'dropoff'));
         $cutoff = sprintf(
-            "fave.modified > TIMESTAMP '%s'",
-            common_sql_date(time() - common_config('popular', 'cutoff'))
+            "fave.modified > CURRENT_TIMESTAMP - INTERVAL '%d' SECOND",
+            common_config('popular', 'cutoff')
         );
 
         $offset = ($this->page - 1) * NOTICES_PER_PAGE;
-        $limit = NOTICES_PER_PAGE + 1;
+        $limit  = NOTICES_PER_PAGE + 1;
 
-        $qry = 'SELECT notice.*, ' . $weightexpr . ' AS weight ' .
-            'FROM notice ' .
-            'INNER JOIN group_inbox ON notice.id = group_inbox.notice_id ' .
-            'INNER JOIN fave ON notice.id = fave.notice_id ' .
-            'WHERE ' . $cutoff . ' AND group_id = ' . $groupId . ' ' .
-            'GROUP BY id, profile_id, uri, content, rendered, url, created, notice.modified, reply_to, is_local, source, notice.conversation ' .
-            'ORDER BY weight DESC LIMIT ' . $limit . ' OFFSET ' . $offset;
+        $qry = <<<END
+            SELECT *
+              FROM notice INNER JOIN (
+                SELECT notice_id AS id, {$weightexpr} AS weight
+                  FROM fave
+                  INNER JOIN group_inbox USING (notice_id)
+                  WHERE {$cutoff} AND group_inbox.group_id = {$groupId}
+                  GROUP BY notice_id
+                ) AS t1 USING (id)
+              ORDER BY weight DESC
+              LIMIT {$limit} OFFSET {$offset};
+            END;
 
         $notice = Memcached_DataObject::cachedQuery('Notice', $qry, 600);
 
diff --git a/plugins/SlicedFavorites/actions/favoritedslice.php b/plugins/SlicedFavorites/actions/favoritedslice.php
index 3e8339a313..e3f16d1fef 100644
--- a/plugins/SlicedFavorites/actions/favoritedslice.php
+++ b/plugins/SlicedFavorites/actions/favoritedslice.php
@@ -77,18 +77,25 @@ class FavoritedSliceAction extends FavoritedAction
 
         $weightexpr = common_sql_weight('fave.modified', common_config('popular', 'dropoff'));
         $cutoff = sprintf(
-            "fave.modified > TIMESTAMP '%s'",
-            common_sql_date(time() - common_config('popular', 'cutoff'))
+            "fave.modified > CURRENT_TIMESTAMP - INTERVAL '%d' SECOND",
+            common_config('popular', 'cutoff')
         );
 
         $offset = ($this->page - 1) * NOTICES_PER_PAGE;
         $limit  = NOTICES_PER_PAGE + 1;
 
-        $qry = 'SELECT notice.*, ' . $weightexpr . ' AS weight ' .
-            'FROM notice INNER JOIN fave ON notice.id = fave.notice_id ' .
-            'WHERE ' . $cutoff . ' AND ' . $slice . ' ' .
-            'GROUP BY id, profile_id, uri, content, rendered, url, created, notice.modified, reply_to, is_local, source, notice.conversation ' .
-            'ORDER BY weight DESC LIMIT ' . $limit . ' OFFSET ' . $offset;
+        $qry = <<<END
+            SELECT *
+              FROM notice INNER JOIN (
+                SELECT notice.id, {$weightexpr} AS weight
+                  FROM notice
+                  INNER JOIN fave ON notice.id = fave.notice_id
+                  WHERE {$cutoff} AND {$slice}
+                  GROUP BY notice.id
+                ) AS t1 USING (id)
+              ORDER BY weight DESC
+              LIMIT {$limit} OFFSET {$offset};
+            END;
 
         $notice = Memcached_DataObject::cachedQuery('Notice', $qry, 600);
 
@@ -113,17 +120,15 @@ class FavoritedSliceAction extends FavoritedAction
         $include = $this->nicknamesToIds($this->includeUsers);
         $exclude = $this->nicknamesToIds($this->excludeUsers);
 
-        if (count($include) == 1) {
-            return "profile_id = " . intval($include[0]);
-        } elseif (count($include) > 1) {
-            return "profile_id IN (" . implode(',', $include) . ")";
-        } elseif (count($exclude) === 1) {
-            return "profile_id != " . intval($exclude[0]);
-        } elseif (count($exclude) > 1) {
-            return "profile_id NOT IN (" . implode(',', $exclude) . ")";
-        } else {
-            return false;
+        $sql = [];
+        if (count($include) > 0) {
+            $sql[] = 'notice.profile_id IN (' . implode(',', $include) . ')';
         }
+        if (count($exclude) > 0) {
+            $sql[] = 'notice.profile_id NOT IN (' . implode(',', $exclude) . ')';
+        }
+
+        return implode(' AND ', $sql) ?: false;
     }
 
     /**