Today I want to talk about plugins and what you should do with them.
A plugin is a little bit of Software that will add functionalities to WordPress. They can have simple functionalities like display a contact form or a more complex one like creating a Membership site for you and protecting your content.
There are tons of plugins available for WordPress. Some are directly available from the WordPress.org site, some you buy them directly from a Vendor. Many have identical functionalities and usually you choose them depending on their ratings. Ratings are not always a sign of quality, it’s more a sign of if it helped people.
It’s relatively easy to create a Plugin, with a little bit of experience you can create a very simple one in less than 1h. Like in any program, there are multiple ways to do stuff. Also WordPress has evolved over time, and the way to do stuff with WordPress a year ago, is probably not the way to do it today. What does it mean for you? It means that there are a lot of chances that you have crappy plugins. Plugins that will create more harm than good, that can create vulnerability to your site or simply put your site out of order at the next update.
So it’s time for a Cleanup. Look at the plugins that you have installed on WordPress. If you don’t know what plugins are and you are the one that takes care of your site. You are probably OK, carry on.
How many do you have?
If you have something like over 20 plugins installed, that’s way too much. For sure you don’t need that many. If you are the one that take scares of your WordPress site and install the plugins, check every single of the plugins installed. Check what they do. Is it something that you really need, or is it a gimmick that you like, or a friend of a friend told you that you need it. The one you don’t want, deactivate them and DELETE them. The one you want for sure, are they up to date?
Try to not have multiple plugins that can do the same thing. Like for example many plugins can generate a Sitemap, for some it’s their main feature for some it’s a secondary feature. They can and will interfere with each other.
When I choose a plugin, I always look when was the last time it has been updated. When it’s over 6 months, it’s a small yellow flag. If it’s over a year ago, it’s definitely a yellow flag. Over 2 years ago, it’s a red flag. There are always exceptions, but you need a rule of thumb, some guidelines to help you pickup the right Plugins for you.
I hope that after this exercise, the number of plugins installed and running is below 10.
You can do the same thing with the Themes, I usually have 3-4 Themes max installed. I always keep the 2 default from WordPress Twenty Eleven and Twenty Ten. Why? Because some themes that I use, when they need to be updated, they first need to be removed and added again. And during the Process of removing and adding, you need a Theme. I have 4 themes, when the Theme I use need to be customized, then I create what is called a Child Theme. So I have my main Theme, a child Theme and the 2 default WordPress Themes.
That’s it for today. I hope you liked it.
