Choosing The Right WordPress Plugin
WordPress is a free open source blogging platform or CMS. When you are working with WordPress you must need to know about its plugin. Using WordPress plugin you can give your website any look that you want. You will find a plugin for every option you want or you can build your own plugin.
When you are building a WordPress site, after installing WordPress your main task is setting up necessary themes and plugins.
In today’s article, you will learn how to select the best WordPress plugin for your website.
Before you start choosing plugins you need to make a list why and where you need plugins. It is better using less plugin on your WordPress site because it effects on your site loading time when you are using a heavy number of plugins. So make a list which plugin you need and why! Like you must need some plugins for social share, spam protection, contact forms, analytics etc.
Where will you get plugins?
WordPress has a huge gallery of plugins. There you will find free plugins on different categories for your WordPress website.
Also if you want to buy premium plugins there are some premium marketplaces available too.
Some Premium WordPress Plugin selling sites:
How to choose the right WordPress plugin?
There are some steps you need to follow to choose the right WordPress plugin. If you check this item before using a plugin it will help you.
Updates.
Is the plugin has regular updates? The plugin you are choosing must have regular updates. It’s important for your site’s security. You must use updated plugins for your site. An older version of themes or plugin always contains bugs.
Downloads
The second thing you need to notice when you are choosing a plugin is its number of downloads. A great plugin always has a great number of users. You can figure it out with a test. You can search for an SEO plugin. You will see the best SEO plugins have the huge number of downloads.
Support
Searching>>finding>>installing. It’s not the end of your plugin research journey. You need to think about it supports. If you are a new WordPress user you can’t run a plugin successfully all the time. You need a clear documentation to run your plugin. Also if you use any payment gateway plugin for your online business you may need customer supports help. So check it before you are choosing a plugin.
Demos
It is good to check a plugins Demo, Screenshots, and Videos. You get the idea how this plugin will work on your site on demos. Also, you will get a documentation on how to use watching a video of that plugin.
YouTube
Did you ever try plugins on YouTube? You can get the perfect plugin that suits your website from YouTube. Users and plugin developers publish plugins reviews on YouTube.
Test the Plugin
If you are running a business website it is better you install plugins after testing them. You can create a testing WordPress site on your web server or local server. Test the plugin before running it on your website and learn how to use it properly. If you want you can customize the plugin and can upload the edited version of that plugin on your website later.
Follow WordPress blogs
You can find lots of great and working plugin from WordPress blogs. WordPress bloggers always try to introduce their audience to the latest WordPress hacks. And you can take this opportunity.
Last Words
Try to use manual coding instead of plugins in small tasks. You will also get tutorials on doing manual customization for your WordPress website. Using lots of plugins makes your website heavier. And try to avoid unnecessary plugins.