Plugins are the building blocks of WordPress sites. Understanding what plugins are, and how to optimize their use, can allow you to create a powerful WordPress site. In today’s episode of Wordfence live, we are going to teach you how to assess WordPress plugins for optimal use and security, while taking a look at some of the top plugins of 2021.
Choosing the best WordPress plugin is a balancing act and what works for one WordPress site may not work for another. However, the criteria to look out for when choosing the best plugin for your WordPress site will remain the same. We recommend considering the following when choosing the right plugin:
* The Features of the plugin, that is will the plugin meet all of your requirements? If you need a simple solution to a simple problem then a plugin with minimal features may be a better choice than a plugin with a wide range of features, and vice versa.
* Support. How is support handled? Is it quick, and do they have good customer service? If you anticipate needing to reach out to the developer or vendor at any point then you should certainly validate that they have a reasonable support response rate.
* Install count. Plugins with higher install counts may have more eyes looking at them, therefore, bugs may be caught and remediated much more quicker than a plugin with low install count. It can be beneficial to choose a higher install count plugin over a lower install count plugin.
*The security posture of the plugin. Review the plugin’s previously reported vulnerabilities on http://wpscan.com. Review how quickly the security issues have been remediated in the past in addition to validating that the plugin hasn’t had an excessive number of vulnerabilities discovered recently.
* Review the last updated date for the plugin. Make sure that the plugin is being actively maintained for compatibility with the latest version of WordPress and bug fixes. Anything that hasn’t been updated in the past year is considered abandoned and should not be installed on your site considering the plugin is likely no longer actively maintained.
* Check out the reviews. Is there anything anyone was unhappy with that you were looking for in the plugin? Reviews can provide good insight as to what features of the plugin may be beneficial for your site and what things could cause harm to your site.
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https://www.wordfence.com/learn/
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Wordfence is the most popular choice of WordPress professionals for WordPress security. We have a number of security tutorials on our YouTube channel, including Wordfence tutorials. Wordfence security plugin is the number one choice in WordPress security plugins.
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0:00 Introduction
2:31 Swag Question
3:05 What is a Plugin?
8:28 Top Plugin “Categories” you may look for
11:54 Things to Keep in Mind When Choosing the Right Plugin
13:44 Walkthrough #1: Choosing and Using a Contact Form Plugin
32:33 Walkthrough #2: Choosing and Using a SEO Plugin
37:14 Walkthrough #3: Choosing and Using a Caching Plugin
49:44 Good Plugin Hygiene
55:54 Swag Winners
56:50 Closing Questions
58:07 Wordfence Mailing List – https://www.wordfence.com/subscribe-to-the-wordfence-email-list/
58:46 We are hiring at Wordfence! https://www.defiant.com/employment
59:36 Wordfence Central – https://www.wordfence.com/try-central/
