Yes! You heard me right there are certain steps that you, must know before installing WordPress Plugins. Let us consider WordPress without plugins. What are you imaging? I feel without plugins WordPress is nothing. WordPress is all about plugins and themes. With nearly more than 25,000 plugins available on WordPress.org alone, the sky really is the limit.
No Doubt plugins are very useful and every aspects. But it was a good side of plugins.But plugins do have a bad side too. Yes! WordPress plugins can have unsavory side effects if you’re not too careful. With keeping in mind today I tried to write the careful steps when using WordPress plugins on your WordPress site. So that you can enjoy all of the extra functionality and avoid the pitfalls. Let’s have a look-
Steps must know before installing WordPress Plugins
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Keep your plugin updated
Keeping your plugins updated is absolutely vital to the security and functionality of your blog. Out of date plugins are prime targets for those in search of security weaknesses and can also break when newer versions of WordPress and other plugins are released.
Outdated plugins that are no longer compatible with the latest WordPress updates can throw your site into an internal server error as soon as you activate them. As you probably already know, every second of downtime hurts your blog badly.
So, it is necessary for you to keep update your plugins regularly. And delete the plugins which are useless for you. So, are you keeping your plugins updated or not?
If You’re Not Using a Plugin, Delete It
This is really important trust me.Even if a plugin is not active on your site you must ensure that it is still updated.Did you know a deactivated plugin is still “live” on your site in the sense that it could be exploited as a security weakness? Many users has a habit of keeping outdated or useless plugins on their dashboard. These useless plugins create a major WordPress security risk, so if you aren’t using the plugin, immediately remove it. Even it is necessary for you to deactivate the backend plugins when they are not in use. You can always reinstall the plugin if you change your mind later.As such it is my recommendation that you only activate backend plugins when they are needed.
Avoid overlapping of plugins
This step is essential. Plugins that overlap in services are just taking up valuable space and bandwidth, and potentially posing additional security risks. Did you want this? You simply don’t need 4 plugins that handle your blog, 6 plugins that create SEO, and 8 different social networking sharing plugins. This useless bundles of plugins will only create risks, space nothing else. When you know 1 plugin can perform all thing then why to need of loads for plugins for that. To put it in layman’s terms, a plugin is simply extra code that is implemented on your site. To an extent, you could add the same code to your functions.php file and achieve the same effect.In addition to slowing your site down, it’s just more you have to keep up with. And who wants that?
Use Trusted Plugins From Reputable Sources
Yes! It is very necessary for you to install the plugin from reputable sources. Only install plugins that come from either the WordPress Plugin Repository or from a trusted premium plugin developer. Trusted plugin providers will provide updates to address any bugs or security issues, as well as updates to keep pace with the latest version of WordPress.
Quality is priority
Quality in the plugin is always a priority. Are you using a plugin that lacks behind in terms of quality? Why quality matter best in the plugin? It is because if plugin quality will not be best then its functionality will slow down. And if functionality will slow down then the plugin will be not used. Along with that same line of thinking, you should be very selective in deciding what plugins to install on your site. After all, every plugin you install may leave behind a footprint that is difficult to remove.
When it comes to installing the plugin you just need to know certain steps-
- Number of downloads
- Average rating
- Reviews
- Are The developer is well established?
- Evidence of active support
One thing you must always keep in mind that premium plugin doesn’t mean that it will be the best. Having said that, the well-made premium plugins typically are the best. If you pick a reputable premium plugin developer you’re likely to enjoy the best functionality, top-notch support, and consistent updates.Don’t ever just do a Google search and go with whatever shows up – find out who people are happy to personally recommend.
For me, the decision to install a new plugin on my site is a pretty important one. I am quite careful to ask myself whether or not I really need the functionality or if I am being drawn in by the proverbial shiny lights. It might be worth you asking yourself that same question. Are you considering the certain steps before installing the plugin?
When your site stop working it is usually because of plugin
Ever your site stopped working? Did you check it might be because of the plugin? Yes! It could be possible, bundles of useless plugins can slow down your website. The best way to “find the problem” is to deactivate all your plugins … and slowly (one-by-one) reactivate the plugins to find the plugin causing the issue. Once you know which plugin is the culprit, you can then evaluate the importance of that particular plugin.
Always use these recommended plugins
From my point of view, I will recommend you these plugins that you must use. Even me too using such plugin. They perform exceptional functions that would be challenging for even the intermediate WordPress user to code into their functions.php file. Here comes the list-
WordPress SEO Plugin 
If you want to increase search engine rankings of your website, then Yoast SEO proven best. This plugin has ultimate readability score feature, which focuses on-page SEO that results in better content. It also suggests the optimum length of title or meta description. In return, will help you to increase your website rankings and click-through rate for organic search results. Go for Yoast SEO for best results.
WordPress Backup plugin
BackupBuddy is the most popular premium WordPress backup plugin which, offers you very simple way restore your WordPress site. BackupBuddy backup includes everything needed to run your WordPress website. This amazing plugin Backup all WordPress files, all files in the WordPress Media library, your WordPress themes and WordPress plugins, and more. Once BackupBuddy completes your backup, you get a downloadable zip file of your entire WordPress website.
WordPress Security plugin
When it comes to managing your website, Security Should is the topmost priority .iThemes security plugin provides numerous ways to secure your site and protect it from hackers. They even offer a one-click, “set it up for me” option.
Sharing some features which this security plugin carries –
- Brute force attack protection
- Enforce strong passwords
- Automatically ban malicious login attempts
- Monitor your filesystem
- Scan for malware
- Email notifications
And, many more …
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Wrapping up
I hope I’m clear with all my careful steps to about installing the plugin. So before installing a plugin you just need to follow guidelines, such as downloading plugins from reliable sources, keeping them updated, and getting rid of the ones you don’t need.Are you planning to install the plugin on WordPress site, try to keep in mind the above-mentioned steps? Hope you liked my article. For any query feel free to comment below. Share your experience with me, and yeah have a great day ahead.
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