How to Evaluate a WordPress Plugin Before Installing It

WordPress plugins have an undeniable power. They can take a so-so website and turn it into something far more polished. But not all plugins are a good fit.

Installing an untrustworthy or poorly coded plugin can lead to site breakage, security vulnerabilities, and performance degradation. Evaluating your WordPress plugins before installation is a key step that will save time, money, and headaches down the road.

This article will provide a comprehensive checklist and practical tips on how to thoroughly evaluate a WordPress plugin before installation, ensuring your site remains stable, fast, and secure.

Why WordPress Plugin Evaluation is Crucial

Because every WordPress site is unique, new plugins can have unforeseen effects on site operations and the user experience. Plugin conflicts are not uncommon. Potential negative impacts are many.

• Security Risks: Plugins are a common entry point for malware and cyberattacks if they are not well-maintained.
• Performance Impact: Poorly coded plugins can significantly slow WordPress site speed, affecting the user experience and search engine optimization (SEO) value.
• Compatibility Issues: Conflicts with other plugins, themes, or your WordPress core can break your site.
• Long-Term Maintenance: Over time, abandoned or unsupported plugins become security liabilities and can hinder future updates.
• Data Integrity: Some WordPress plugins handle sensitive data. The well being of this data is paramount to your site and business so it needs to be secure and reliable.
• Avoidance of “Plugin Bloat”: As many WordPress site owners discover, installing too many unnecessary or redundant plugins becomes difficult to maintain and support.

Key Evaluation Criteria for WordPress Plugins

The WordPress plugin market is vast with many options to choose from for common site needs like SEO and security. WordPress plugin best practices should include doing some evaluation of the plugin options you consider for your site before activating them.

Here are the key evaluation criteria for helping you find the best plugin option for your site.

Source and Reputation

It’s best to start your search at the WordPress.org repository. You should prioritize plugins from here as they have undergone a thorough review process. Another premium plugin marketplace to consider is CodeCanyon.net, which features independent developers with strong track records.

You may also want to research the plugin’s developer to see if they have other well-regarded plugins to gauge their overall reliability.

Last Update and Active Development

Make sure the plugin is compatible with the version of WordPress running on your site. Is the plugin support robust? Review how recently the plugin has been updated to gauge what kind of support exists for it. Ideally, the plugin has been updated within the past few months.

It may be a red flag if there are no updates within the past year. That’s an indicator that the plugin may have been abandoned.

Active Installations and Reviews/Ratings

How many active installs of the plugin are there? Higher numbers (100,000+) can indicate reliability. But don’t rule out smaller, niche plugins that may not get the same level of usage.

Look closely at the average rating of the plugin. It’s best to choose plugins that have 4.5 stars or above.

Also read some of the plugin’s reviews. Pay attention to common complaints, especially those mentioning support, bugs, or performance problems.

Support and Documentation

Take a look at support forum activity on WordPress.org. Are questions answered promptly by the developer? Check to see how many resolved threads there are in the past two months. This is an indicator of what kind of support you can expect should you run into problems.

Be sure to assess what documentation is available. Are there clear, comprehensive tutorials and FAQs to assist you? You may also want to look to see what kind of premium support is available with paid plugins.

Plugin Features and Overall Necessity

An often overlooked question is: Does the plugin do what you need? Sometimes you are only seeking to add a simple feature. You want to avoid feature bloat on your site, so don’t install a complex plugin for a simple feature that could be handled by a lighter plugin.

You also want to avoid duplicating functionality already provided by another plugin or theme.

Performance Considerations

Plugins can vary in the amount of code that supports them. As much as possible, you want to lean toward lightweight code that doesn’t load unnecessary scripts/styles on every site page and hurt overall page load performance.

It’s crucial to run a test of the plugin prior to any installation on your live site. You need to see how it actually works on the site. Ideally, this should be done in a staging environment so you can closely monitor performance.

Query Monitor is a great resource for plugin performance testing.

Basic Security Audit

New plugins can inadvertently introduce security risks to your site. You want to conduct a WordPress security audit of the plugin. Does the new plugin make excessive permissions requests? This can lead to security problems.

Also determine if the code is open-source (if it’s a free plugin). If it is open-source then the developer allows the community to review performance, which will likely call out any security problems.

Check online for known vulnerabilities with the plugin. A quick search can yield helpful information about your new plugin.

Steps to Take Before and After Plugin Installation

Although the WordPress plugin evaluation process is important, actual installation requires close attention and scrutiny. These steps before and after plugin installation are important to follow.

Before Installation

• Be sure you always create a full site backup of your WordPress site (files and database).
• It is best practice to use a WordPress staging site to install and test the plugin prior to installation.
• Only push to production after thorough testing and verification that all is good.

After Installation

• Test the plugin’s functionality to ensure it works as expected.
• Check for any conflicts, seeing how it interacts with other plugins and your theme.
• Closely monitor performance with monitoring tools to determine if your site speed has been impacted.
• Review all the settings, configuring only what is necessary and disabling features that are not needed.

Using a Plugin Evaluation Checklist

New plugins can deliver great value to your WordPress site, but they can also be wild cards. Careful evaluation is important.

Be sure to consider source and reputation, updates and development history, active installs and reviews/ratings, available support and documentation, overall necessity, and performance and security impacts.

Taking a disciplined approach to plugin evaluation is a cornerstone to your site’s long-term stability. Adopt an evaluation checklist to help you make informed decisions and safeguard your WordPress site.

Pressable Plugin Support

Plugins are critical components of a functional and attractive WordPress site for your business. Pressable offers plans with free access to staging sites that allow you to test your plugins before pushing them to your live site. In addition, we provide a hosting foundation that delivers unmatched speed, security, and reliability. Your site’s page loads are optimized to deliver an efficient and consistent experience to your visitors. We give you the technical confidence you need to focus your attention on managing the other parts of your e-commerce business, including your plugins.

Pressable—part of the Automattic family that also includes WordPress.com, WordPress VIP, and WooCommerce—offers experts with the skills and knowledge to effectively manage your WordPress site. If you’re thinking about switching to managed WordPress hosting, see how Pressable can support your continued optimization and growth. Scheduling a demo today.

Nox Dineen-Porter

Nox possesses a unique blend of industry and academic expertise, seamlessly integrating her knowledge of communication, software development, and research. Her journey with WordPress began in 2003, first as an avid blogger and later as a skilled software developer. Her fascination with WordPress led her to join the Pressable support team, where she effectively combines her passion for technology with her love of problem-solving and her deep understanding of user behavior. As a PhD candidate, Nox is poised to make a significant impact on the field, bringing together her expertise in research, communications, and software development to provide context and clarity about health science and devices to the public. When she's not at her computer she enjoys hiking, running, yoga, and street photography.