The truth about WordPress Plugins: why you may not need them

WordPress plugins can be problematic. Guest blog explains why you might not need them

WordPress plugins are really great; they speed up loading times of a website, improve structure of the theme and more. But WordPress plugins can be problematic.

Over 22,000 plugins have been developed by numerous developers around the world so we can safely say WordPress Plugins are playing a very constructive role in our WordPress ecosystem. So where is the problem?

WordPress Sites

People tend to blame plugins and sometimes for all the wrong reasons. However, there are some definite reasons to remain skeptical about the over use of WordPress plugins. But let me clear one thing that the problem does not lie with the excessive number of WordPress plugins. You are free to use as many WordPress plugins as you wish. The problem lies in choosing the wrong or half-baked plugins that have securities issues.

Common issues with WordPress plugins

Plugins may not get updated regularly and this could lead to an increase in loading time and poor user experience. WordPress plugins have been known to cause security vulnerabilities.

Reasons behind Loading Time Increase

There are two possible reasons behind a dramatic rise in the loading time once you start using multiple WordPress plugins.

–Unwanted HTTP Request is a standard practice to bring down the number of HTTP request because this has an adverse impact on the loading time. There are some WordPress plugins that may contribute to an increase in the number of HTTP requests by sending request for files which are not needed at all.

–Duplicate JavaScript Library: Some plugins send requests for open source libraries like MooTools, jQuery without checking whether these libraries have been requested or not.

Long-term Risks

Using WordPress plugins for a short period of time is not a matter of concern, but as a long term solution you can inadvertently expose your website to some serious problems.

Plugin Updates may not happen frequently so if they take a long time to release a new version of their plugins you will be at a disadvantage.

Moreover, plugins may be discontinued. Since you have no control over the development of the plugin, it may happen that the developer does not feel like giving support to his developed plugin and its functionality will slowly fade away.

Security Vulnerabilities

Some WordPress plugins continue to use worn-out libraries which are no longer in perfect shape or no longer are being maintained properly.

–Susceptible Libraries: plugins may leave your website to external threats that you should not ignore.

–Validation and Other Issues: Some WordPress plugins fail to follow the standards of data validations and this eventually leads to cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities and MySQL injections.

Before you install another WordPress plugin, ask yourself:

–Do you really need this plugin? There is no reason to install a plugin just because other people have installed it.

–What you are going to do with this plugin? Is this plugin going to serve any fruitful purpose? If not. Just think about installing another WordPress plugin.

–Is the plugin better than other plugins available?

–Is the developer well known and has credibility online?

–How long the plugin is available and what is the feedback other people of this plugin?

About the author: Michael Evans is a passionate blogger and organic web strategist. He is associated with flash templates, MotoCMS.