How do you pick the perfect WordPress Plugin for your website?
There are over 55,000 Plugins in the official WordPress open source repository. And that does not include the tens of thousands of paid commercial Plugins available in the marketplace.
Here are 5 Tips to Pick a Plugin
- Open Source Software
WordPress.org Plugins must adhere to a strict set of guidelines, including a GPL-compatible license. These guidelines include privacy, security and other requirements to help protect your site. And all WordPress.org Plugin code is vetted as part of this process. - Active Installations
Generally, the more installations have been downloaded and activated – the more likely the Plugin is reliable. More activations means more user testing across a wide variety of installations. - Plugin Developer(s)
A developer who has released multiple Plugins is another sign of confidence because that person likely has more WordPress experience. A team of Plugin contributors can also be a sign of well-tested code quality. For example, I generally trust most Plugins supported by Automattic, WordPress core contributors. - Reviews
A Plugin with a high volume of quality reviews is a testament to its effectiveness. - Testing and Technical Discovery
When evaluating Plugins, I often compare the file download size because performance is as important to me as rich features. By comparison, a similarly functioning Plugin with a significantly larger size can be an indication of code bloat and possible issues, including performance or security.