Maintaining Your WordPress Plugins
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Yes you need to do some maintenance on your WordPress plugins. The best way to do that is by deciding which ones you are going to use. And that will depend on the purpose of your blog. A blog used for keeping in touch with family and friends will probably not be concerned with search engine rankings so the All In One SEO plugin won’t be necessary. But if you want your site to rank high in the search engines then the All In One SEO plugin might be something you want to take a look at. So do some research before deciding which plugins to use.
If The Blog Builder Guy did your blog setup then I will have talked with you about which ones are important based on your blog’s purpose. But remember everyone needs spam protection and the Akismet plugin is a must! I install it on every blog I build.
It’s also important to remember that plugins require resources and too many may have an adverse effect on the speed at which your blog loads. Don’t go crazy installing plugins!
After you install a plugin make sure that you give it a thorough testing. Go through your blog page by page and make sure it doesn’t cause any problems. If it does make sure it is configured properly. If it still causes problems delete it and try one that is similar. There are many plugins so you aren’t stuck with only one choice.
Every once in awhile it is a good idea to reevaluate the plugins you are using. One that was useful a year ago may not have much use any more. Or it might be better to replace it with a newer one that provides a similar function. If you decide to not use a plugin any longer don’t just deactivate it. Delete it. Under each plugin’s name you will find these options. Use Delete to completely remove it. Activate | Edit | Delete
And last but not least, always update your plugins as the updates become available. And another tip is to do a backup of your site before updating the plugin…you never know what might happen. I’ve never had a problem but I’m sure one day something strange will happen.
I hope you found this helpful. If you have any questions shoot me an email and I’ll be happy to help you out.
[...] April 6th, 2010 by mikeandrobinwilson http://www.theblogbuilderguy.com/blogging-tips/maintaining-your-plugins/ [...]
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Glad you are enjoying the blog! And thanks for subscribing.