Too many plugins, what to cut?

by 29 replies
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I'm getting started with WordPress plugins. Now I've got too many...

What would you remove - either because it is duplicate or unnecessary?

My goal is to built a lot of microsites into a network of sites that will rank well for SEO. Each will be on a different topic, with a few pages added each week. They're not going to be receiving comments - purely for content.




---- Thanks
#main internet marketing discussion forum #cut #plugins
  • First of all I can see that you have a lot of SEO plugins. I don't think you need all of that. One or two will probably do the you are looking forward to. It is not by having a hundred same category plugins that makes your site efficient in that respect, but how good you use a given plugin is. So I would advice you to start by cutting on the SEO plugins you have a stick a with a few and optimize it.
  • Ditch all of 'em except maybe two or three. That is a load of plugin crap you'll never need and never use.
  • You need to use as few plugins as possible.

    If you're not using a Premium theme then you probably need 1 all round SEO plugin (all-in-one-SEO or Platinum SEO - and don't bother if your theme offers SEO settings), Google Sitemap Generator, a backup plugin (WP-DBManager or similar) and spam protection (Akismet and/or Bad Behaviour).

    Start with those and then only add plugins that bring a measurable benefit.

    The cost is always going to be reduced performance and higher potential for things to go wrong every time you add a plugin.

    Cheers,

    Martin.
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
    • [1] reply
    • Good point. I had left that off my shorter list (above) but am adding it back in. Thanks
  • All of them.
    • [2] replies
    • I know the list was too long, but why would you cut "all of them" - are you saying using plugins is a bad thing?
    • hi Istvan, can you please give a little explanation why shouldn't we use plugins? thanks
  • I could keep this plugins in my site:
    - Google XML Sitemaps
    - All in One SEO
    - WP-Super-Cache
    - Akismet
    - Simple AdSense
    - Google Analytics fοr WordPress
    - Sociable
    - Contact Form 7
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
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    • Thank you - this helps me eliminate a lot of the dups

      I am going to use WP Cumulus - just because I like the look & feel of it (a cool effect with tags).

      One thing that I don't see here is Pingler ... would you use or avoid services like these? I know there is a place in the settings to add sites to ping when a new post is made. I've also seen long lists of sites to include, many of which may be dead, and I would imagine this would really bog down the web server pinging hundreds of dead links...

      Thanks
      • [1] reply
  • Google XML Sitemaps
    All in One SEO
    WP-Super-Cache
    Google Analytics fοr WordPress
    Contact Form 7

    You may want to include more if you are doing any blackhat seo.
  • Banned
    [DELETED]
  • try to see which is contributing more on your services. Cut the less that offers you less contribution.
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    • This is standard plugin set for my blogs

      akismet - spam handling
      all-in-one-seo-pack - seo
      contact-form-7 - contact form
      google-analytics-for-wordpress - analytics
      google-sitemap-generator - XML sitemap
      hyper-cache - performance
      maintenance-mode - temporarily activate this when doing major maintenance
      really-simple-captcha - captcha for contact form
      revision-control - limit post and page revisions
      stats - wordpress traffic reporting
      ultimate-plugins-smart-update-pinger - ping only once and at the right time
      widget-logic - different widgets for different pages
      wptouch - for mobile presentation
      wp-db-backup - database backup
      wp-spamfree - spam handling - belt and braces with akismet
  • I have explained it several times in different threads.

    First, because just like the OP, people go the wrong way about it: they install a zillion plugins and then they ask what to uninstall. The normal way to do it - think what additional features you need (that are not easily done without plugins) and find the right plugin for it. NOT the other way around...

    Next, not all the plugins are equal. Some are made by half-learned self-appointed coders with a lot of security risks; with too many open MySQL connections that are never closed; with their onw tables in the database that are not deleted during an uninstall. Some are simply obsolete... read: made for lazy people

    When thinking about what you need, you should also avoid installing two or three plugins doing the same, like several different SEO "improving" things; five spam protection gizmos... (Quiz: can you find in the posts above such repetitions?)

    I will give you 2 examples of totally unnecessary plugins:
    a) G. analytics - you can easily copy/paste the GA code into one of your template files in a simple text editor.
    b) revision control (I admit, it's an annoying feature introduced by WP developers) - put this line in your wp-config.php file:
    define('WP_POST_REVISIONS', false);
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
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    • Of course, I agree with the general thrust of your argument. However, I do like Revision Control.

      I set revisions at 2 , as it gives me a easy way to restore a post if I make a mistake

      Does WP_POST_REVISIONS = false give me a fallback position without having to go back to the last database backup? Also how does that setting interact with the autosave or is autosave disabled when you switch off revisions?
  • Have a look at Jeff Johnson's site. He offers a free, good package of the 6 key WP Plugins. It is a good place to start for the basic set. Then you can add as you need the function.

    Also, to ease the installation pain, look at making your own template installation and using something like WPCyteClone to clone your basic template as a working base for each new site.

    Best regards,

    Gren.
  • You should only add plugins that are needed - anything extra is overkill.

    I use:

    Google Sitemaps plugin
    All in One SEO or Platinum SEO
    Akismet Spam Protection
    Bulletproof Security

    What else do you really need? Just because the other plugins are there it does not mean you need to use them. If it isn't something that is critical to the success of your blog, get rid of it.
  • I use - platinum seo, maxblogger ping optimizer, xml sitemap, pretty link, contact form and that is enough, my sites are ranking pretty well. I don't use cache plugins because always when I test them my sites are not ranking well.
  • Not really, not as good as it could be thus the need for some type of SEO plugin.

  • Without a plugin WordPress provides no way to add a meta title, keywords or description, it instead uses your page title or headline as the title, and does not have a description or keywords. That is poor SEO and will really hurt your rankings. I love Allinoneseo, and its one of the only plugins I use, besides some i have custom written.
    • [1] reply
    • Well, there is a way, it just isn't automatic...

      It's not THAT hard to do the editing necessary to have setup meta-desc etc, but with a few low-overhead (resource-wise) plugins that do it automatically, I don't see why not.

      It's a factor of necessity in my eyes - If your blog can't handle the traffic it's getting (slow load times etc) maybe it's time to think about optimizing it a little. But that's the name of MOST of the IM game;

      Create, review, optimize...
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    • I have been hunting for info on this. The problem explanation and solution all seem based on the plugin creator's pitch.

      Is it true that WP (today- November 2011) pings every time you make a re-publish correction?

      Is it true that Max Blog Press Ping Optimizer solves this problem. GeorgR says No.

      As a WP user with no coding knowledge at all, this is one of those plugins that require me to go on faith - I can't see any difference one way or the other. So when I stumbled on this observation, I wonder.

      Anyone else want to support GeorgR? Any evidence or research I could see?
  • Pokerdawg -

    before you install all these plugins, make sure that you really understand WHAT they do and use them to their full extent.

    "more SEO plugins" is NOT "more SEO benefit". If you'd had a closer look at your plugins, you would see that some of them do the exact same stuff - so ask youself - "if I got three plugins that optimize my [titles, metatags, whaterver..] - does that really make sense?"

    What you're most likely creating is conflicts and problems...

    So as suggested, start small, think first what you need, look out for what a single tool that fulfills that and then tweak it.

    Cheers,
    Rob Konrad
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