WordPress Plugins makes the job so easy. If you are looking to integrate something new in WordPress then you can do it easily using the WordPress plugins. In that case, you don’t want to know coding or extra programming to do so.
It is one of the reasons behind the huge success of WordPress. You can find thousands and lakhs of WordPress plugins available over the web. Based on the developer and functionality it varies from free WordPress plugin to membership plans.
When we plan to install a WordPress plugin, we will have a doubt that whether it is safe to install, whether it is compatible with the current version and will it work with other installed plugins.
Here is the complete guide that helps you to choose the right WordPress plugin that will support your website & using these metrics you can decide whether the plugin is harmful or useful. If you are new to WordPress, see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.
Table of Contents
Metrics to Check before Installing a WordPress Plugin
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Compatibility
Compatibility is the foremost important factor to check. If you install a plugin that is not compatible with the CMS or other plugins then it will cash the entire website.
In that case, some times you may end up with valuable data loss. So you should check the WordPress version of your website and see whether the plugin is tested with this version or not.
In the below Image you could the plugin that you can choose or the plugin you should not choose.
You can choose if it shows – compatible with your version of WordPress
You should avoid using a plugin that shows – Untested with your version of WordPress
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Security & Updates
Next to the compatibility is the Security and updates. The job of a plugin developer will not get completed once the plugin is launched on the web or WordPress plugins directory.
If a plugin is not compatible then it may crash the website right away. If a plugin is not updated with the latest security patches then it may get affected anytime. It is not safe or recommended to use.
If you have a question that how to check whether the plugin is updated & safe. In such time, you can check it during the WordPress plugin search, it will be mentioned as “Last Updated“.
The Last Updated time should be at least less than 2 Months. If a plugin keeps on getting updated then it shows the developer is active and they improving it for the current necessity.
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Reviews & Installations
Reviews are the feedback about particular WordPress Plugins and the Installation count will give us some trust to use it. You may think about how to check and decide.
When you search a WordPress plugin from your website as Plugins » Add New or directly in a web as WordPress Plugins, you can see the star rating below the plugin name.
You can also see some count within the curly braces right of the star rating under each WordPress Plugins. Star rating shows how people rated that plugin and the count says the number of people wrote a review for the plugin.
Get 5 Star Review on average of 5 users doesn’t make it so good. Getting such feedback from 100’s and 1000’s of users really matters. So here you should compare both. Make sure more people reviewed it and rated it good.
Also, you can check the active installation of that particular WordPress plugin. You should know thousands and millions of installation is not a matter for a WordPress plugin with awesome features. So choose the plugin which has more active users.
Finally, you will have some questions on your mind that “How a new WordPress plugin will have such reviews, ratings & active installations?”. If that’s your exact question, then bloggers like us used to review the new plugin, theme, feature launches done on recent WordPress directories.
What we do? we install plugins on our test website. We do feature checks and compatibility checks and based on which we review the plugins, CMS and other software. If you couldn’t find such reviews, drop it in the comments and we will do a brief review on it so you can use the software and plugins that are safe to use.
We are open to your comments. Drop your thoughts and get our support in all the ways!