-Re: WordPress Plugins—What I’ve discovered.

 PLUGINS

For those working on a WordPress platform (WordPress.com or WordPress.org), plugins play an essential part in setting up and maintaining your site. It certainly can be confusing to new bloggers and even those of us who have been blogging for years. 

Those working with Blogger don't have to worry about Plugins since everything is provided by the Blogger program. It is the perfect program for those with little time to invest in a website or blog, like pastors. 

There are literally thousands of plugins available to WordPress bloggers. New ones are produced all the time and some of the old ones discontinue support which is critical.

I have personally tried out a hundred or so. At one time I was using nearly 30 but in the process discovered several issues that caused me to limit the number I use. 

Here’s some of the stuff that I have discovered usually the hard way:

a. Some plugins actually cause your blog to load more slowly.

At one time I had 3 or 4 that slowed down the load-in time considerably. You can test this by turning off all your plugins and adding them one by one and see if they make a difference in load time. You might be surprised. I once had a blogging friend who used 40 or so plugins and it was taking 20 seconds or more for his blog to load (not good).

b. Some plugins conflict with each other.

What this means is—if you are using one particular plugin another one may not work right. I have no idea why—it is just that way. Some of the websites will inform you of any conflicts but mostly it is trial and error.

c. Some plugins may not work properly with your particular WP theme.

I have run across this a couple of times particularly with older WP themes and newer plugins. One time after upgrading a plugin it would no longer work properly with the theme I was running at the time.

d. Some plugins have been used by hackers.

There have been several times in the last 4 years or so when hackers have actually used certain plugins to gain backdoor access to WP blogs. WP official sites will carry a warning when this happens along with a remedy and/or upgrade.

e. It is a good idea to upgrade your plugins to the newest version.

See #d above. Also, plugins eventually have to be upgraded to work with the latest WP versions.

f. Stop using any plugin that no longer has support and will no longer be updated..