What is a WordPress Plugin?
WordPress was designed to be lean and lightweight. Standing alone, WordPress doesn’t have many features. In order to extend and add functionality to WordPress, plugins were designed. They are called as WordPress plugins.
Today, in the definition series, I am going to explain what is a WordPress plugin.
What is a WordPress plugin?
WordPress plugin is a small piece of software having functionalities that can be added to a WordPress site.
They are used to extend or add new functionality to a WordPress site. There are many sources from which you can download a plugin of your choice. But the most popular source is the official WordPress repository directory. Over there, you’ll find approximately 45,000 plugins, all free for download. But there is a possibility that all of these plugins are good. Because they are free, the plugin developers don’t update the plugin on regular basis or they even have lot of bugs. And you might not get proper support if there’s an issue.
To overcome this, you might want to choose paid plugins. In general, paid plugins provide tech support and are updated regularly. On WPeka Club, you will find lot good WordPress plugins which are regularly updated and with great tech support.
Irrespective of what type of plugin you choose, free or paid, they are simply the best and only way to add features to your site. There is a saying in the WordPress community: “There’s plugin for that”. And that’s true in real terms. If you don’t find a plugin for something, develop one (if you’re a developer) and you could earn some money. 😉
Before wrapping up, I would like to say that WordPress plugins are a great way to extend functionalities of a WordPress site. But, if you’re an administrator, there are certain points which you should keep in mind while installing a plugin:
- Check when was the plugin last updated
- Check whether support is available or not
- Which WordPress version it is compatible with
- What is the rating of the plugin
These points will help you in selecting the right plugin for your site as some plugin tend to slow down your site or give conflicts. But that is only applicable to bad plugins.
I hope now you would have got an idea of what is a WordPress plugin. Do share your views or comments or any questions you have in the comments section below.
Great post.Thanks for sharing
Hi Ravi Bhagwat, Though you are a fun guy but you Write very important matter that every blogger needs to know. Thanks, Ravi Bhagwat.