The huge range of over 36,000 community-contributed plugins is one of the most valuable features of WordPress.org. But how do you determine what’s a safe and effective plugin without being overwhelmed by choice? In this session we’ll look at when to use a plugin and clarify the difference between widgets and plugins. We’ll discuss how to make an informed decision about which plugin to use – and explore how to troubleshoot any conflicts that may crop up.

1. Passionate About
Plugins
AND Wild FOR
Widgets
Kathryn Presner @zoonini
WordCamp Maui 2015 #wcmaui

2. Kathryn Presner
Happiness Engineer
Theme Team at Automattic

3. Widget Me This
Welcome to the world of widgets

6. CORE
ACTIVE
INACTIVE
Widgets in the Admin Area

7. Inactive Widgets

8. Widgets in the Customizer
ACTIVE
INACTIVE
CORE

11. Plugin with Custom Widget

12. Plugin with Custom Widget

13. Plugin with Custom Widget

14. Custom Widget in Theme

15. Widget Conditions
Control which widgets go where

16. Jetpack Widget Visibility

17. Add Conditions

18. Refine Conditions

19. Plugin Power!
What/when/how?

20. Installing Plugins

21. Behind the Scenes

22. Up Front

23. Up Front

24. Picking a Plugin
Making wise choices

25. Lots and Lots of Plugins
wordpress.org/plugins

26. OVERWHELMING

27. 1. Credibility
2. Track record
3. Popularity
Plugin Selection Criteria

28. courtesySixRevisions

29. courtesySixRevisions

30. Popularity Contest

31. Recently Added

32. Hand-picked

33. Search Tips
in repo
tag
non-repo
compilation

34. Past its Prime

36. Log in to Vote, Rate & Post

37. Version Compatibility

38. Version Compatibility

39. Version Compatibility

40. Version Compatibility
If IT WORKS votes / TOTAL votes >= 0.7 then IT WORKS
If IT WORKS votes / TOTAL votes >= 0.3 then IT’S BROKEN
Source: Otto

41. Author

42. Screenshots & FAQ

43. Offsite Support

44. Changelog

45. Support Track Record

46. Resolved Threads

48. Plugin Troubleshooting
Potential conflicts:
• plugin & WordPress core
• two or more plugins
• plugin & theme

49. Troubshooting Flow Chart
When in doubt, deactivate all plugins
Problem still there?
Reactivate one at a time
Test between each
NO

50. Troubshooting Flow Chart
When in doubt, deactivate all plugins
Problem still there?
YES
Search forums/Web
Post in forum/report to developer
Look in source code
to default theme
Replace plugin with an alternative

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

52. Post in the Forum

53. Follow a Plugin - Support

54. Follow a Plugin - Dev

55. Favoriting Plugins

56. A Few
Types
Plugins
NOTABLE
OF

57. SEO

58. Security/Backup

59. Multilingual

60. Monster Widget

61. Jetpack

62. Premium

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

64. Resources
WordPress.org Codex: Managing Plugins
http://codex.wordpress.org/Managing_Plugins
WordPress.org Codex: Plugin Resources for
Developers
http://codex.wordpress.org/Plugin_Resources

65. Resources
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– Pippin
Williamson
http://wp.tutsplus.com/articles/general/
functionality-plugins-vs-themes/

66. Resources
Professional WordPress Plugin
Development
by Brad Williams, Ozh Richard, Justin Tadlock
Wordpress Plugin Development Cookbook
by Yannick Lefebvre

67. Connect/Credits
Presentation
slideshare.net/zoonini
Kathryn Presner
kpresner.com / Twitter: @zoonini
WordPress.org Slack: zoonini
Fonts
Arvo & Lato
“Overwhelmed” photo
(cc) andres.thor – Flickr