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Archive for WordPress

Plugin puzzle

How to Choose the Best WordPress Plugin

Posted by Jan McClintock 
· Wednesday, August 13th, 2014 

As of this writing, there are 32,764 plugins in the WordPress Plugin Directory, and more premium plugins available elsewhere. How do you choose?

Like apps for mobile phones, there’s a plugin for that. There are plugins available to help you do anything possible on a web site using WordPress. It’s wonderful to have such a choice, but also difficult to know which one to try.

The best way to choose is to get recommendations from other developers. They should be able to give you first-hand knowledge of a plugin and its features. Otherwise, you must search for a plugin that fits your needs.

This article is about searching through the WordPress Plugin Directory to find the best plugin for your site.

The WordPress Plugin Directory

Developers use the WordPress Plugin Directory, also called the plugins repository, to search for a specific feature they need to add to a web site.

There are two ways to search:

  1. From the backend of your site using Plugins > Add New
  2. Using the directory at http://wordpress.org/plugins/

On the directory page itself (2), there is a list of Popular Tags on the left side, but that rarely helps to narrow down your choice, as there are well over a thousand plugins under each tag. The tag map, visible on the Install Plugins page (1) or after clicking the More button on the repository page (2), will list categorized options. Most of the time, however, you will simply enter what you need in the search field.

Example:

Plugin search

You have narrowed the choices, but you still have to pick one to try, and going though 382 plugins is not easy. Here are a few things to look for.

Sort

In the directory, there are four sorting factors on the search results page that might help: Relevance, Newest, Most Popular, and Highest Rated. Relevance is usually the best and will work according to your search term, so the more specific it is, the better. But if you want to see which plugins are rated highest by users, check the Highest Rated and hit the Search Plugins button again, and your results will re-sort. Although this might be skewed by plugins that only have one or two ratings, at least you will have eliminated plugins with poor ratings.

Plugin sort

Similar choices are available within WordPress: Featured, Popular, Newest, and Favorites.

Install Plugin

The last choice can be very handy. In the directory, you can keep a list of the plugins you’ve used and found useful, called your Favorites. (You must be logged in to WordPress.org to do this.) If you install certain plugins often, choosing the Favorites list within WordPress can save time, especially if you can’t remember the exact name of a plugin.

Description

The blurb under the plugin on the search results page is difficult to decipher in most cases. It’s a shame that it can’t always be a simple description of what the plugin does. That would help to elevate or eliminate some right away. Here’s an example that could improve:

Plugin description

Specs

The specs under the description can be very helpful.

Plugin specs

If a plugin is on a higher version than 1.0 (or less) and has been updated fairly recently, you know that the author is keeping up with its development. If the plugin hasn’t been updated in over a year, it’s suspect. However, remember that there are plugins that continue to work well without changes—they don’t need updates. Use other factors like support and recommendations to decide.

The number of downloads indicates popularity (but don’t discount new plugins).

The average rating can be helpful, too, but make sure to check the actual plugin page before passing judgement. (See Ratings, below)

The Plugin Page

On the plugin page itself, under the default Description tag, you will see some of the same data that were summarized on the search results page.

Plugins specs

Version

Make sure the plugin is compatible with a relatively recent version of WordPress. Currently, anything under version 3.0 is unacceptable.

Ratings

These might not help in some cases—new plugins don’t have many ratings, for instance. That’s why taking these details as a whole is the key; together with the other specs, how does this plugin compare?

Be sure to click on the links [“5 stars,” “4 stars”] to see reviews. These might reveal some aspect of the plugin you need to know.

NOTE: If you use a plugin and it works well—or not—please leave a rating and a short review to assist other developers.

Plugins ratings

Support

How many threads have been posted recently and how many have been resolved? This ratio shows whether the plugin author is keeping up with the questions or has moved on to other things. If you have a question about using this plugin, will you get an answer? Admittedly, while using a free plugin, you shouldn’t expect professional support. However, if the author is ignoring problems, then it’s time to ignore the plugin.

Plugin support

More Tabs

Plugin page tabs

Most of the time, the Installation tab will list simple directions for adding the plugin to your site. However, some plugin authors use this spot to include extra information, like more instructions, incompatibilities, links to documentation, and even videos.

Check the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) tab for important information about using this plugin. Sometimes major issues can be listed here and either forewarn or placate you.

Screenshots are great, but not all plugins include them. Maybe the plugin consists of shortcodes and doesn’t need screenshots. For others, hopefully the author supplied at least a few to give you a preview of features.

Other Notes might include sample code or other additional information. Don’t skip it!

RECAP

Elements to check:

  • recommendations of other devs
  • description
  • version of plugin
  • date of last update
  • number of downloads
  • ratings and reviews
  • WordPress version compatibility
  • support responsiveness
  • screenshots

TAKEAWAY

Use these features as a whole—and compare similar plugins—to make the best choice.

Has this been helpful? Please leave a comment and let me know. If I’ve neglected a useful aspect of searching for a plugin, please tell me.

WordPress

“Quick & Easy Online Sites” vs WordPress.org

Posted by Jan McClintock 
· Tuesday, June 18th, 2013 

WordPressI listen to Sirius/XM satellite radio while I’m in the car, and lately, I’ve heard quite a few ads for “fast and easy web sites for businesses” for low monthly fees (or even free). The ads make it sounds as if anyone can create a web site during their lunch break that would rival that of a Fortune 500 company, and only pay a buck forty for it.

Of course, web developers and designers dislike hearing these kinds of ads, because it’s competition for their services. But it’s more than that. It’s hurtful to the overall quality of professional web sites, and it’s honestly painful for a web developer and especially for a designer to visit a bad web site. It’s like asking a chef to visit McDonalds.

I really have nothing against these services like Wix, Weebly, or Web.com. I know how intimidating the online world can seem to people not familiar with it. These services provide a way for people to publish personal and small business sites when they’re just starting and can’t afford a developer.

  • When you use one of these services, you should read the terms of service very carefully. Know who owns the rights to the content you put on your site and who is responsible for it.
  • These sites use proprietary software. Therefore, you are stuck with one company for the life of the site, and cannot move the site or its contents.
  • On the plus side, they often offer very nice themes from which to choose. (However, it won’t be unique to you.)
  • Their software is usually extremely easy to use.
  • You are limited to the features they offer, however, since you cannot expand the site beyond what the company gives you. For instance, if you want to sell something on your site, do you have a choice of payment gateways?
  • Do you know the company behind the claims? Wix, for example, is based in Israel (meaning all legal action is, too) and the site is currently in BETA version! Gee, wonder when that will end?

When you choose to use WordPress.org for a web site, whether or not you hire a web developer, you are using Open Source software, free for everyone and supported by millions of people all over the world. The vast majority of new web sites today use WordPress.

  • WordPress isn’t as easy to use as one of the above services, that’s true. It has a higher learning curve. That’s why it’s a good idea to work with someone who does it for a living.
  • Using WordPress, you have an unlimited feature set and can do anything that is possible online. There are plugins that allow for millions of features and the means to control them, many for free.
  • There are many thousands of themes available for WordPress, free and paid, and they vary greatly in function, quality, and features. Your choice of theme may depend on a particular framework or Parent Theme like Genesis, Thematic, or Builder.
  • You have control of every aspect of your web site, from the behind-the-scenes items like domain name, hosting, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and e-commerce to the look and feel of the site.
  • You can back up or export all of the data on your site at any time, migrate it to another site, or delete it completely if you wish.
  • The bottom line is: YOU are in control of your site. By working with a professional who does development, design, and/or maintenance, you have the best of all worlds: a unique site that does exactly what you want, security, and a future.

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