Many of us have a natural tendency to expand into our physical space. Whether your penchant translates to cartons of childhood memorabilia in the attic, jam-packed storage lockers on your boat, or a car loaded to capacity for a one-night getaway — squirreling away items “we might need” is a common ailment.
In the digital space, today’s devices and computers are like mansions, providing abundant capacity to store images and videos, music and games, emails and documents — and obviating the need for due diligence.
Having virtually unlimited space for storage can lead us to become undisciplined. And discipline is an important element to ensure forward momentum.
New year reset
For businesses, the start of a new year commonly inspires a review of the prior year’s successes and gaps. In addition, we take a hard look at our processes and seek out solutions (technologies, strategies and new practices) to improve efficiency and effectiveness. Within the technologies category is a review of website plugins.
My site uses plugins for various purposes – to increase security, to improve SEO and to present information (such as testimonials and case studies) in a visually appealing, user-friendly way. Generally, setting up new plugins is pretty straightforward, and (as long as you choose plugins that are thoroughly vetted), they deliver the promised functionality.
We’ve published posts lauding the value of specific WordPress plugins.
However, when adding plugins, it can be easy to get into a “messy attic” situation. It’s important to keep your plugins updated, and to consider potential conflicts when adding new ones. While plugins provide a simple (and often cost-free) way to provide functionality, more is not always better. Plugins that are not actively maintained can present security vulnerabilities or conflict with automatic updates to website themes.
Just as newer versions of physical products often include new features (think desk lamp or bedframe with a built-in USB outlet), a website upgrade or new theme will often include functionality previously utilized via a plugin. As long as it meets your needs, utilizing the functionality within a theme (and eliminating the plugin) is generally the preferable solution. Periodic reviews of your plugins with your web host or developer can identify these situations.
Many website owners do not consistently login to the back of their websites and may be unaware of pending plugin updates. And some plugin creators launch plugins but cease maintaining them. Both of these scenarios can pose vulnerabilities for your website.
Website plugins review and cleanup
As part of my new year reset, I joined my website developer for a deep dive review of the plugins on my website. We both logged in to the back end of my site, talked through each plugin, and categorized them as:
- Keep
- Delete
- Deactivate
Plugins category 1: The keepers
Plugins in the “keepers” category included those that minimize spam (including Askimet); enable formatting of Frequently Asked Questions in a search-engine friendly way; and one to add a temporary website banner notification.
Other valued plugins for the “keepers” category include those for maintaining website backups, supporting Contact and download forms, and various plugins that enhance the blog user experience.
Plugins category 2: The losers
Many of the plugins in the “losers” category served a purpose when they were originally added, but became irrelevant or unnecessary over time. For example, an updated theme with embedded FAQ functionality enabled me to eliminate the Frequently Asked Questions plugin, and a more robust Forms plugin used for our downloadable resources allowed us to delete a basic forms plugin in place from my original website launch over a decade ago.
Additionally, just as fashions change over time, styles for displaying information on websites evolve, and we removed several other display plugins, opting to utilize more contemporary alternatives available within my updated website theme. While some development work may be required in these cases, it’s usually pretty minimal.
Plugins category 3: On the fence
We deferred our decision on these plugins for various reasons, including the following:
- Functionality overlapped or duplicated that of another plugin
- The reason for a particular plugin is no longer clear
- Issues that required a plugin initially have been resolved through other means
- A plugin was used for a very specific purpose that is no longer highly valued or relevant
- Rework of some content or design is needed prior to elimination of the plugin
Rather than deleting, we deactivated these plugins. If no display or functionality issues arise, we will delete them in a few months.
Our review and purge process didn’t take a lot of time, and was a good investment in my website’s performance and security.
Set aside time for a back-end review to prioritize the performance and security of your website.
