One of the great options for WordPress blogging software is the ability to add in “plugins” to the software to provide for extra functionality — usually functionality that a nice code person has done and then provided an interface for the rest of us to easily use the functionality.
Since plugins are used in many different functions, there are literally hundreds of them out there.
For example, one of the plugins I use is called “Democracy.” It gives me the ability to easily set up a “poll” on the blog. I can write the question, determine the answer options to the poll, decide if I want users to be able to add answers outside of the one I’ve written, and after voting, see the results.
Pretty nifty, isn’t it?
It really is. The problem with plugins is that they don’t always work. There are some reasons for this:
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The plugin is not compatible with your version of software. Right now, the recommended version of WordPress for your blog is 2.2. Of the hundreds of plugins out there, few have actually documented testing on version 2.2 so that you know it works. If your latest plugin is OK with 2.+, does that mean compatible with 2.2? Only installing it will let you find out. The deal is, you usually need to upgrade the WordPress software and will do so without knowing if your plugins will break. A conundrum.
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The plugin is not compatible with your theme. Off the shelf themes, modified themes, or custom themes, it matters not. Something between your theme and the coding of the plugin makes things not work right. For example, I installed a comments theme that would allow a bit easier writing of comments by my users. But, the plugin broke my theme (different one than the one I’m using today) by not displaying the comments correct in either Firefox or Internet Explorer.
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The plugin is not compatible with another plugin you are currently using. Similar code, similar structure, accessing the database…it’s a conflict. Again, you won’t know until you try the plugin out.
What’s a writer to do?
The key on plugins is to match what they do with the functionality you want for your blog.
If you have a lot of pages that are nested and want a plugin that manages the nesting (putting a plus out there and then clicking on the plus to show the sub-pages, for example), make sure the plugin says it will do the function.
Check the compatibility of the plugin.
If the web page says that it works in WordPress 2.2, that’s a good sign. That doesn’t clear the other two hurdles of working with your theme or all your other plugins, but it helps. If the plugin says it’s compatible with 2.+, you pick your cards and take your chances.
Install the plugins one at a time.
It’s tempting, after devoting a day to finding cool plugins, to simply upload all of them to your blog, activate them…and then find nothing works. Did you add five plugins all at once? You have about 25 possible problems. The way around this is to activate one plugin at a time. Then check the functionality of the plugin on your blog in Firefox and Internet Explorer to make sure it works as advertised.
Plugins are really a great help. But, help yourself as well and safely install your plugins to ensure they do what you want them to do on your blog.
Speaking of the Democracy Plugin…here’s a poll:
Scot
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