WordPress as a content management system has many advantages, one of which being its’ user-friendly approach to maintaining your website. WordPress is an open-source solution, which means we have a lot of creative control when it comes to designing, developing and customizing your web development project. This also means that any web developer is able to create a standalone solution to some common needs and requirements that you may face on your site and in many scenarios it is ‘plug and play’ ready, hence the name “plugin”.
Pros and cons of using plugins
As is the case with any consideration during web development, the use of a WordPress plugin comes with a handful of benefits or disadvantages. The installation of a plugin or which plugin you choose to use should be well considered to ensure that your site remains functional and that the newly added code doesn’t negatively affect your efforts.
Pros
- Quick solutions for common problems
- A plugin can quickly expand your site’s functionality and add new features like chat bots with very little effort.
- No WordPress development knowledge required (most of the time)
- A properly developed plugin requires no enhanced experience of web development. You can simply plug it in and are ready to go.
- Easy to use settings
- Most plugins come with their own interface to manage settings. This allows for you to easily adjust how the plugin works or interacts with your web design.
- Inexpensive solutions available
- There are over 60,000 free plugins available in the WordPress repository that offer solutions for all needs. In addition to the free solutions available, many plugins offer premium paid plans that unlock more features and functionality.
Cons
- Code bloat
- One of the biggest downsides to using a plugin on your WordPress website is that they are most commonly standalone code. This means that you’re adding a lot of new code to your site that might not be necessary and can be avoided by a more bespoke solution. As more plugins are added, your site will see an impact as the additional code can negatively impact performance, functionality, and even SEO efforts by hindering user experience.
- Incompatibilities
- It’s hard to know if a plugin truly will blend into your site with no issues. Many websites will have unique features that a plugin might not expect. As you add more ‘out-of-the-box’ plugin solutions you might even run into conflicts with another plugin and often the WordPress plugin developer won’t be able to support resolving this issue.
- Free WordPress plugins may not be properly developed
- While a free solution makes things easy, it must be acknowledged that these are developed by third-party WordPress developers and you need to be aware that they may not be properly tested or compatible. This can lead to many issues on your website.
- Unexpected or ongoing costs
- While there are free solutions, most premium plugins require a one-time payment to access the full features. This unlocks the features for you and most commonly provides you with a year of support and updates, but if you ever need a newer version of the plugin after that first year you are likely required to purchase again.
It’s always important to weigh your options and consider the benefits as well as the potential negative impact that a plugin can have on your website and your user’s experience navigating your site. While plugins can be a very quick and useful solution, it’s necessary to understand the impact they can have on your web design’s overall performance. Any plugin can positively or negatively affect all elements of your site including performance, functionality, search engine optimization (SEO), user experience, accessibility, and usability.
If you are looking for a quick solution and want to test a plugin, we will always recommend that you do your research first and test the install on a stage website if you have one available.
For more information on plugins and how to properly research whether they are reputable or not, please read our post listing our top 5 must-have plugins that are well vetted, well maintained and provide many benefits without the negatives.