Choosing Plugins
There are 56,000+ plugins available at the WordPress.org repository. That's plenty to choose from when you need more functions for your website.
So which plugins do I recommend?
Only install plugins you really need
I recommend only installing plugins that you really need. Badly coded plugins can slow a website down, allow access to hackers, or even break a website.
The best recommendation I can give you is to search at https://wordpress.org/plugins/ for the features you need. Check that the plugin is compatible with the latest version of WordPress and that it's been updated within the last few months. And that there's many thousands active installs. Reviews will give you a picture of what users think about the plugin. And the support forum will give you an insight as to what problems other users have encountered and whether the developers fix things that have been reported.
And always use a test website to try out plugins and themes before you risk installing them on your live website. And, as MKearns mentioned below, create a backup before you make any major changes to your website.
Recent Comments
87
I find this helpful Marion. So is there a training on how to back up a website or how to have a test website?
This will help with the backing up part Full Backup With a Plugin And you have up to 25 free siterubix subdomains you can use for a test site.
I hear you, backup and try out on another site.
Thanks for the reminder, always does to refresh our brains.
Cheers Jae
Yes, I went through the trial and error process very recently trying to find a good plugin.
HI Marion,
Great idea seems how most plug ins and themes don't always give a very descriptive listings of what they will do and what you can do with them. Must are a trial and error kind of thing.
Calvin
Thanks Marion,
Now if I can just find a single plugin to do everything I want it to. Hard to find good ones that will do more than just one thing.
Jim
Sometimes those all-in-one thingies are very bloated and create more problems than they fix.
But the SEO plugins do lots of things. Check out the addons for All In One SEO.
Thank you, Marion. We have finally got our website to the point where we are looking at ways to enhance it, but safely. As always you provide great advice.
Colette and Philip
If your website is hosted at WA and uses Site Protect, then you shouldn't need an antispam plugin. If you're hosted elsewhere then I recommend Antispam Bee. Akismet is not free for commercial websites. (A commercial website is one that is intended to make money. So your affiliate marketing site is a commercial website.)
Hi Marion
When you use a plugin to do a certain job, once this job is complete is it a good idea to deactivate it and carry on or will this affect what you have used it for?
Vicki
That depends on what the plugin does, Vicki.
Some plugins such as Pretty Links work constantly so they need to be always active. Other plugins such as Post Type Switcher can be deactivated and even deleted once they've done their job.
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Oh Marion- you just scared the daylights out of me! lol
Seriously...great advice. So easy to get in a hurry to fix a problem and end up installing something that can haunt you for a long time.
Thanks!
Yes, some of those older plugins have security vulnerabilities which can cause major headaches.