How Many Word Press Plugins Are You Using

11 years ago

Hi,

The biggest problem with plugins is the amount of memory and load time they will consume as you add more and more of them.

That being said, there is no real magic number. Hosted sites with huge servers, massive memory and bandwidth can scale higher than a crappy shared hosting package.

One thing you might want to try is to look at this plugin:

WordPress › P3 (Plugin Performance Profiler) « WordPress Plugins

It does a scan as your site loads and then will give you an idea of how much load time and memory each plugin is costing you. It works pretty well for getting idea of which plugins you installed are real resource hogs. You will be surprised how some seemingly small plugins are consuming the memory on your site like Cookie Monster.

-Adam

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Istvan Horvath

11 years ago

One is too many... Everything that doesn't add a specific feature that is absolutely necessary due to the specifics of that blog - is way too many.

What I am using on my specific website doesn't help your site at all - because your website is different.

There is no plugin that is "must have" <-- that's an idiocy parroted by ignorant WP users.

Slowing down is not about the number of plugins used: one single stupidly-coded plugin (and the majority of them are like that!) can slow down your blog considerably.

Thanks
2 replies

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CDawson

Banned 11 years ago

Originally Posted by Istvan Horvath

One is too many... Everything that doesn't add a specific feature that is absolutely necessary due to the specifics of that blog - is way too many.

What I am using on my specific website doesn't help your site at all - because your website is different.

There is no plugin that is "must have" <-- that's an idiocy parroted by ignorant WP users.

Slowing down is not about the number of plugins used: one single stupidly-coded plugin (and the majority of them are like that!) can slow down your blog considerably.

So, you're saying it's better to modify coding for SEO purposes rather than use a simple plugin like "all in one seo"?

Thanks
2 replies

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adamfdotnet 11 years ago

Originally Posted by CDawson

So, you're saying it's better to modify coding for SEO purposes rather than use a simple plugin like "all in one seo"?

I wouldn't read the quote like that. One plugin can be too much if it doesn't help your site.

All in one SEO and Yoast's SEO plugin are great, if you need the features that they provide. If your theme provides most of the features and you don't need what they offer, then you don't need the plugin.

I think for those starting out, there are some plugins that are very useful to have, but as said above, it depends on your needs. It is very easy to get "plugin happy" and add too many.

Basically, here are some good Wordpress suggestions:

1. Find a good framework and use a child theme (there are free and paid routes).
2. Add the plugins you really need but try to install as few plugins as possible. Pay special attention to if the plugins are actively supported.
3. Keep watch on your site anytime you install something new to see if something breaks or slows down.
4. Ensure you backup your entire site regularly.

-Adam
- Thanks
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Istvan Horvath 11 years ago

Originally Posted by CDawson

So, you're saying it's better to modify coding for SEO purposes rather than use a simple plugin like "all in one seo"?

First of all: I do NOT believe in "SEO" as it is understood by the majority of wannabe marketers and snake-oil-salesmen catering to them.

A well-coded theme does half of the 'on site' seo.

At this moment I consider this plugin a very good one:
WordPress › WordPress SEO by Yoast « WordPress Plugins

... but even its author starts the description saying - "WordPress out of the box is already technically quite a good platform for SEO, this was true when I wrote my original WordPress SEO article in 2008 and it's still true today, but that doesn't mean you can't improve it further!"
and to be honest, even before all the hype plugins that promise to make your morning coffee and much more... there were WP sites doing very well in SERP not because of SEO hocus-pocus but because having good content. Go figure!

And generally, yes, whatever can be done with modifying a line or two in the theme's template files - I prefer to do it in that way. (Never touching the core files, though!)
- Thanks
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adamfdotnet

11 years ago

Originally Posted by Istvan Horvath

Slowing down is not about the number of plugins used: one single stupidly-coded plugin (and the majority of them are like that!) can slow down your blog considerably.

This is a very good point. Bad coding will hurt everything, theme included...

-Adam

Thanks

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CDawson

Banned 11 years ago

Originally Posted by jenki1

Hi Guys,

I wanted to find out if there is an optimal amount of plugins that we should be using?
What is too many?
What is not enough?
What ones are you using?
What ones can you not do without?
What ones is a must have for everyone?
Over how many will slow the loading down?
Will it affect google rankings?
Would love to know your thoughts.

The plugins are used to help make things easier. It doesn't matter how many plugins you have as long as they are serving a purpose. I don't use that many just all in one seo, askimet, sexy bookmarks, etc.

Thanks
1 reply

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NatesMarketing 11 years ago

As few as possible to accomplish my needs. I try and keep things as streamlined as possible. I believe a fast website outweighs "awesome" plugins.

One of my sites has the following:
- Digital Access Pass
- JW Player
- Nmedia File Uploader
- S3 Media Vault
- Shortcode Exec PHP
- Wordpress Backup to Dropbox

I would normally run cache, SEO, and sitemap plugins too...however, I do not need them on my current setup.
- Thanks
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sabatek

11 years ago

Originally Posted by jenki1

Hi Guys,

I wanted to find out if there is an optimal amount of plugins that we should be using?
What is too many?
What is not enough?
What ones are you using?
What ones can you not do without?
What ones is a must have for everyone?
Over how many will slow the loading down?
Will it affect google rankings?
Would love to know your thoughts.

Here are some must have plugins:

Google Sitemap
SEOpressor
Social Bookmarking.

Thanks

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khooster1

11 years ago

All-in-One-SEO plugin is a must have for SEO.
This saves lots of time optimizing the pages.

The other plugin I used is PrettyLink.

Must have for email marketing.

Thanks

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IMStrategus

11 years ago

I only use the most necessary plugins.
Contact Form
Social Sharing
Link Cloacking
Social Media Buttons
and few others.

Thanks
1 reply

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jenki1 11 years ago

Thanks guys and gals for some really helpful posts.
Gives me a better understanding.
The only question not answered is can it affect my google ranking.

Cheers,
Ian
- Thanks
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andrewsmithhere

Banned 11 years ago

Number of plugins depends on what you want to achieve.
Some of the most important plugins are:
1. Google XML Sitemap
2. All in One SEO
3. All in One Webmaster
4. Prettylinks / Gocodes

Hope this helps

Thanks

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