Choosing your WordPress Plugin

WordPress is renowned for being a truly versatile open source platform and has extensible capabilities.  Most business owners looking for an enterprise web application platform. Will most likely consider using WordPress as their main tool for their content marketing strategy. So being popular means there is a huge WordPress following, many people in the community are enthusiasts and businesses people helping to map the future of WordPress through the forums and events.  There are a huge amount of plugins available from social media widgets to e-commerce platforms, so there seems to be a WordPress plugin for most things that you need. The plugin repository is now at a stage where you have more choice than ever so its crucial you take the correct steps before clicking the install button.

Things to consider when choosing WordPress Plugins

Reviews

Check out the reviews comments regarding the plugin, always read the lowest rating to the highest rating, you don’t have to read them all if there are lots of reviews, but a good cross section is good. Reading these comments will help you find out if people have had any problems.

Downloads

Check out how many downloads the plugin has had, when its popular you can only assume that the plugin is legit.

Last updated

When plugins haven’t been updated in over 6 months then your can conclude that this might not be the plugin for you. When you get stale plugins they tend to vulnerable to risks such as compatibility issues with new roll-outs of WordPress occurs and possible security flaws.

Before you install your WordPress plugin

I would recommend taking a backup of your website, make sure you backup includes the file-system (the web contents – php files, media etc)  and the database export sql script.  You may need to disable other plugins to get it working, if your in any doubt seek a professional.

Categories: WordPress