What is a plugin and how do you find the good ones?

Presented by Michelle Hayes

Recording available at

WordPress.tv

About Me

What is a plugin?

A program that extends the functionality of WordPress and your theme.

Quick Facts

  • Over 57,000 free plugins in WordPress Plugin Directory
  • Thousands more paid plugins on various sites
  • Developers can build custom plugins

Where do you find plugins?

WordPress Plugin

Directory

Paid Plugins

Custom Plugins

How do you know which plugins are good?

Plugin Directory

  • Over 100,000 Active Installs
  • 4 Stars or Better
  • Recently Updated
  • Compatible with Current Version of WordPress

Paid Plugins

  • Quality Documentation – are all your questions answered?
  • Robust Community – results from various sources in Google search; facebook groups and slack channels exist
  • Developer Responsiveness to Questions – ask pre-sale questions if anything is unclear

Custom Coded

  • Codeable Experts are Vetted
  • Codeable Offers Warranty and Refund Policy
  • Existing Plugin Developers – see previous slide

How Many Plugins is Too Many?

More than you need.

Ask Questions

of the Developer!

  • pre-sale questions
    • developer wants happy customers
    • understand refund policies
  • support questions
    • developer wants happy customers
    • may enable developer to improve plugin

Must Have Plugins

Let’s see how they work…

Questions?