Passionate About Plugins - WordCamp Montreal 2012

Passionate ABOUT Plugins Kathryn Presner @zooniniWordCamp Montreal 2012 #wcmtl

Kathryn Presner•Automattic Happiness Engineer as of Monday•WordPress.org support-forum moderator since2011•WordPress site designer/developer since 2008•Professional web designer since 1998

Over 20,000 WordPress Plugins http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins

OVERWHELMING

courtesy SixRevisions

1. credibility2. track record3. popularity Revisions courtesy Six

Popularity Contest

Recently Added

Hand-picked

Search Tips tag in repo non-repocompliation

Past its Prime

Log in to Vote, Rate & Post

Version Compatibility 0 people say it works. 23 people say it works. 2 people say it works.0 people say it’s broken. 1 person say it’s broken. 14 person say it’s broken. If IT WORKS votes / TOTAL votes >= 0.7 then IT WORKS If IT WORKS votes / TOTAL votes >= 0.3 then IT’S BROKEN

Author

Screenshots & FAQ

Offsite Support

Changelog

Support Record

Resolved Threads

Post in the Forum

Follow a Plugin - Support

Follow a Plugin - Development

Favoriting Plugins

Plugin TroubleshootingPotential conflicts:• between plugin & WordPress core• between two or more plugins• between plugin & theme

Plugin TroubleshootingWhen in doubt, deactivate all pluginsIs the problem still there? NO YESReactivate one plugin at a time

Plugin TroubleshootingWhen in doubt, deactivate all pluginsIs the problem still there? YES • Search forums/Web for similar issue • Post in forum/report issue to developer • Look in source code • Switch to default theme • Replace plugin with an alternative

Proper Plugin Care and FeedingAvoid editing others’ plugin code...COULD THE CHANGES:•Be moved outside the plugin folder?•Be incorporated into the plugin?•Be forked into a new plugin?

A Few NOTABLETypes of Plugins

SEO Plugins

Security & Backup Plugins

Widget Logic

Monster Widget

Jetpack

Commercial (“Premium”)

Share Your Faves• Contact forms • Caching• Analytics • Admin interface• Anti-spam • Custom fields• Mapping • Custom post types• Slider/slideshow • Social sharing• Gallery • Multilingual

KATHRYN PRESNER@zoonini • zoonini.comSLIDES:www.slideshare.net/zooniniCREDITS & RECOMMENDED READING• “Overwhelmed” photo (cc) andres.thor http://www.flickr.com/photos/andresthor/3963368371/• Background patterns – COLOURlovers.com• 6 Questions To Ask Before You Install A WordPress Plugin – http://sixrevisions.com/wordpress/before-install-wordpress-plugin/ (flowchart used with permission)• Functionality: Plugins vs Themes – http://wp.tutsplus.com/articles/general/functionality-plugins-vs-themes/

Passionate About Plugins - WordCamp Montreal 2012

by Kathryn Presner on Aug 16, 2012

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Passionate About Plugins - WordCamp Montreal 2012 Presentation Transcript

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