Do You Really Need That WordPress Plugin? Maybe You Dont

I`m sure you`ve read somewhere "must-have plugin for WordPress" The best page builder,the best image optimizer, and who knows what.

But before you rush to upload, please ask yourself,

1. Do you really need that plugin?
2. In case things go wrong, what can you do?
3. Will it really improve things?
4. What`s really in it for you now that was not there before you found it?
5. Can you do without it?

If the answer is all yes

Before you do anything else, please backup your site.

I did something that I USED TO DO WHEN I GOT STARTED and it`s cost me dearly. And I`m angry at myself because it`s not even the first time.

You older guys might remember easy Azon(I'm sure it`s still out there, just not as popular), back then when it was the must-have, I installed it, and what happened? my site disappeared I could not even go to my admin area, the space was blank(plugin clash) that was a headache as it took me maybe a week to figure out it was the plugin.

Fast forward, I got AAWP and at the same time decided to move to Elementor.I do most of my online stuff late at night(when I wake up on time)So I installed Elementor, installed AAWP, and some other plugins with only half my brain active. Sure these can`t be a problem, they are paid plugins. So for whatever reason, I did not even backup my sites but Installed all 3 plugins on my 3 sites.

What A Serious Mistake

When my site started having issues, I thought, it might be just a tiny problem I can solve soon enough. My work online is very slow recently, sometimes weeks go by before I do anything on my site.

By the time I accepted the problem is beyond my know-how, it was way too late: Months had gone by so even WA support could not help, they did not have a recent backup for my sites.

I`m left with 3 messed-up websites, rankings are gone, a 1000+ word will appear as a 1 paragraph word, Htags, bold text everything is a single paragraph. Google Console not ranking any post. Even old posts that were permanently on page one for over 3 years are now found on page 10!!! No one finds you on page 3 of Google but I`m mostly on page 10.

Very lucky for me, I found someone here at WA who can help me straighten things, I was not comfortable inviting some freelance from who knows where to my site because my sites are also hosted here. It`s not as simple as removing the plugin and everything works perfectly again, the plugins seriously messed up my site and loads have to be done.

This is a slow painful process trying to bring things back to normal, it will take me time.

Please Think Before Installing the Next Plugin, Don`t Be Me

I know/hope I`m not the only one who`s done something so foolish, please next time you want that must-have plugin, be prepared as things may go terribly wrong. Ask yourself if you really need that plugin.

Things were so bad I thought of starting a new site altogether and abandoning the problematic ones.The only positive to come out of all these? It made me find someone here who`s brilliant at what he does, so next time I mess things up, I don`t have to wait months, I know who to contact. And, I`m getting a better site like I always wanted.