Why I use less Plugins in my WP & Why you should do it Too!

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WordPress is a powerful open source Content Management System (CMS) which can be used to build websites and web apps. It is user friendly and over the years many themes and plugins (free and premium) are available for everyone.

But, if you are reading this article you already probably already knew that. Let’s not spent any more of your time.

The problem

The main reason why I use less plugins to my WordPress projects is simple.

Most plugins in the WP directory are not well build and have many lines of code which most of the times are useless to your project. It is very common to install a plugin that has 5 features only to use 1! But, by installing this plugin you overload your website and database with data that eat up your server’s resources like a bear who just woken up from hibernation and eats everything in its path!
The problem gets even bigger if your plugin count is too high.

My solution

My solution is simple:

1. Determine your needs
2. Find a similar plugin that gives a solution to your problem and analyze it
3. Note the top 3-5 features of the solution
4. Create a custom plugin that in the first version only provides exactly what you noted
5. Use as less code as possible

 

First of all, let me say that a web project depends on the budget and the skills that your team have.

Not enough budget and a team (or just you) with not sufficient skills cannot implement my solution right away. But my solution is still applicable if you find a developer with affordable services on Fiverr or a similar platform.

If you have a decent budget my solution will most likely be applicable right away.
Your team might already have a developer that can develop a custom plugin with the features you want.
And even if you don’t have a developer then you can always find developers on Fiverr or sign a contract with a company that provides this kind of services.

If you have more than enough budget then I don’t think I need to explain much but you should probably read further to understand why I choose to use less plugins.

Why?

Because.

I will use 4 categories to explain my logic. Performance, Security, Conflicts and Management.

Performance: Each plugin adds code that needs to load, potentially slowing down your website. This can lead to frustrated visitors who bounce away before your site even fully loads. Not to mention you need to upgrade your server which means more expenses!

Security:  More plugins means more potential security vulnerabilities. A poorly coded plugin could be a hacker’s entry point. It’s important to stick with reputable plugins and keep them updated.

Conflicts: With many plugins, conflicts can arise, causing unexpected issues on your site. Good luck debugging!

Management: Too many plugins can clutter your admin dashboard and make it difficult to find what you need.

By using your own custom plugins, you can avoid most of these problems and prevent big issues.
I know that some plugins can’t be avoided or you just can’t spend the man power to develop a plugin from scratch. But you can always avoid installing plugins that won’t do much and will only make your website slower, weaker and bring you headache!

Also, if something goes wrong custom plugins are easier to debug because you already know the code behind their functionality and you can step up to solve it fast!

It is a simple but multi-layered solution which worked for me ever since I started using it!

Hope it works for you too!