Brian from Diogenes' Lantern explains to the East Bay WordPress Meetup in June 2012 the methods for choosing among the dozens of plugins available for any given function.

1. Diogenes’ Lantern
WordPress Series
Choosing Plug-Ins
for Your New
WordPress Website
How to find WordPress Plug-Ins and
kick the tires effectively…
brian@dlantern.com

2. WordPress Plug-Ins 101
» What is a plug-in?
 The car analogy:
» Theme – Your paintjob and custom interior/exterior
package
» PHP functions – Doing your own modifications to your
car
 Think of a Plug-In like an after-market factory
install of a new car sound system, or a turbo-
charger, etc.
 It’s self-contained, and designed to install, update,
and remove easily
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3. WordPress Plug-Ins 101
The Plugins UI
•Left Menu
•Top Menu
•Plugin Content
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4. Choosing Plug-Ins
» What kind of plug-ins do you want/need?
 General Considerations
» Performance (external vs. internal, active vs. passive, etc.)
» Complexity (Strive to maintain simplicity and focus)
 Coverage
» Figuring out what types of plug-ins you need:
Housekeeping Utility Presentation
Backups Social Media/Feeds Sliders/Galleries
Broken Link Checks Forms/Submissions Calendar/Events
Image Compression Translations Related Posts
XML Sitemap Email Subscriptions Platform Support*
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5. Choosing Plug-Ins
» Finding and evaluating plug-ins
 Via WordPress Plugin Search or via web search
» Look for: functionality, popularity/rating, known publishers,
documentation, support options, and timely updates
» Google for major issues
 Via referrals from people you know (best method)
» Ask about: reliability, maintainability, learning curve
 Installing plug-ins to check them out
» Be careful of plug-ins that install tables/store info
» Check out dashboard UI for ease of use and functionality
» Avoid plug-ins that re-invent the wheel, and avoid overlap
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6. Choosing Plug-Ins
Plugins
Installed
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7. Choosing Plug-Ins
» Try it
 Pick a type of plug-in, search for your options, and
evaluate them thoroughly
 Decide what criteria are going to be most
important for you and then stick to your guns
» Ongoing
 Update your plug-ins in a timely manner
 Prune your plug-ins periodically
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8. Walkthrough and Q&A
» What I’m currently using for plug-ins
» What other kinds of plug-ins have people
found useful?
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