I once installed a WordPress plugin to add concertina-style sections to my articles. It did what I wanted: readers could click a heading to expand or hide the text beneath it.
Unfortunately, the website also became noticeably slower. When I removed the plugin, the speed improved significantly.
I never established whether it conflicted with something else or was simply inefficient. It may have loaded extra code, made additional requests or interacted badly with another part of the site. What mattered was the result: the plugin provided its promised feature but made the website worse overall.
That experience changed how I think about plugins.
A hobby website does not need every plugin included in somebody else’s “essential” list. It needs only those that supply important functions not already handled by WordPress, the theme or the hosting provider.
Do not begin with a plugin list. Begin with a missing function.
What is a WordPress plugin?
A plugin is a package of code that adds or extends a function in WordPress.
The distinction between a theme and a plugin is useful:
- A theme primarily controls how the website looks and presents its content.
- A plugin primarily adds something the website can do.
A plugin might create a contact form, optimise images, add SEO controls, display a chess puzzle or turn WordPress into an online shop. Some perform one small task, while others introduce complete systems containing their own settings, templates and extensions.
WordPress describes plugins as packages that add new features or functionality. They can also be activated or deactivated independently of the active theme. This makes WordPress extremely flexible, but it does not mean every possible feature belongs on your website.
Start with the function, not the plugin
Before searching the WordPress plugin directory, answer four questions:
- What exact outcome do I need?
- Does WordPress already provide it?
- Does my theme provide it?
- Does my hosting provider already handle it?
Only search for a plugin if the function is still missing.
Suppose you want collapsible sections inside an article. WordPress or your existing block collection may already provide a suitable details or accordion block. Installing another plugin before checking could duplicate something you already have.
The same reasoning applies to larger functions such as backups, security, caching and image optimisation. These functions matter, but your host may already provide them. Installing another product could duplicate the work, complicate support or conflict with the hosting environment.
The requirement is the function, not the plugin.
There is no universal list of essential plugins
A better approach is to divide possible plugin needs into three levels.
Functions most websites should consider
Almost every website owner needs to think about:
- backup and restoration;
- security and malware protection;
- SEO controls;
- image optimisation;
- performance and caching;
- spam management;
- analytics or search-performance measurement.
These are important questions, but the answer may be “my host already handles this” rather than “install another plugin.”
Functions required by your publishing process
As you work on the website, you may identify tools that make publishing easier. Examples include:
- contact forms;
- redirects;
- code-snippet management;
- image conversion;
- editorial tools;
- social-sharing features.
These needs vary. A plugin that saves one publisher time every week may be irrelevant to somebody else.
Functions specific to the website’s subject
The widest variation appears here. A particular hobby website might benefit from:
- interactive chess puzzles;
- calculators;
- maps;
- booking systems;
- product-comparison tools;
- membership or course features;
- specialist databases.
A chess-puzzle plugin is not essential to WordPress. It could, however, become an important part of a chess website. The purpose of the site determines the requirement.
How my hosting changes my plugin list
Action With AI is hosted through Wealthy Affiliate. On my installation, Wealthy Affiliate provided Kraken image optimisation and The SEO Framework by default.
I normally add Site Kit by Google, and I often use WPCode. I do not install separate backup, malware or general hosting-security plugins because I rely on the systems supplied by Wealthy Affiliate.
This is my current setup, not a universal list for every WordPress website.
The plugins perform different jobs:
- Kraken optimises and compresses images.
- The SEO Framework supplies SEO metadata and related controls.
- Site Kit by Google connects supported Google services and displays useful information from services such as Search Console, Analytics and PageSpeed Insights inside WordPress.
- WPCode provides a place to manage code snippets without directly editing theme files.
Wealthy Affiliate also restricts some plugins that duplicate or conflict with its hosting environment. I have never found that prevented me from adding something I genuinely needed.
Other hosts will make different choices. Before installing backup, security, caching or image plugins, find out:
- What does the host already provide?
- How frequently are backups created?
- How long are they retained?
- How is a website restored?
- Is caching performed at server level?
- Is malware scanning included?
- Does the host restrict incompatible plugins?
Your hosting provider’s current documentation or support team should answer those questions.
Image handling is more than compression
Images are a good example of why the complete function needs to be defined.
AI tools make it easy to generate attractive images, but the resulting files can have large pixel dimensions and file sizes. A beginner may download an image and upload it directly into WordPress without checking either.
Several related tasks are involved:
- Resizing reduces the image’s pixel dimensions.
- Compression reduces the amount of data needed to store it.
- Format conversion can change a PNG or JPEG into WebP.
- Renaming replaces an unhelpful generated filename.
- Alternative text describes relevant image content for people who cannot see it and for situations where it does not load.
- A caption provides visible context when one is useful.
One plugin may not perform all those jobs. Converting a 3,000-pixel-wide PNG to WebP may reduce its file size, but it does not necessarily make those dimensions appropriate for the space where the image will appear.
This repeated workflow led me to create my own PNG-to-WebP plugin. It allows me to upload an image, convert it, change its filename, add alternative text and a caption, and send the completed file to the WordPress Media Library.
The plugin did not begin as an abstract ambition to become a developer. It began with a repeated publishing task and the thought: there must be a better way to do this.
I described the full experiment in I Built a Custom WordPress Plugin in One Weekend (And Why You Can Too).
How to assess a plugin before installing it
The WordPress plugin directory provides several useful signals. None guarantees that a plugin is right for your website, but together they can improve the decision.
Check:
- whether it solves the exact problem without numerous unwanted features;
- when it was last updated;
- the minimum WordPress version;
- the version it has been tested up to;
- the required PHP version;
- the number of active installations;
- recent positive and negative reviews;
- recent support activity;
- the changelog and documentation;
- whether your host permits it.
Read the description and screenshots carefully. A plugin may contain the feature you need but also introduce unrelated features, dashboards or promotional notices. Start by favouring the smallest well-maintained plugin that solves the defined problem.
Consider the directory signals together. A recent update suggests active maintenance, but an older update does not automatically mean that a simple plugin has been abandoned. A substantial user base suggests wider real-world use, but popularity does not prove quality. A high rating may also conceal recent problems if most reviews are old.
“Tested up to” is useful evidence from the developer, not proof of compatibility with every theme, host and plugin combination. Similarly, a reputable plugin may be unsuitable for a particular hosting environment because it duplicates a managed service or uses resources the host restricts.
Install one plugin and test the result
Installing several plugins together makes it difficult to identify which one caused a later problem. A controlled process is better:
- Write down the reason you need the plugin.
- Confirm that a restorable backup exists.
- Record a useful baseline, such as current page behaviour or a performance result.
- Install and activate one plugin.
- Configure only the features you need.
- Test the new function.
- Check the homepage, an ordinary article and the mobile view.
- Repeat any relevant measurement.
- Keep the plugin only if the website is better overall.
A single PageSpeed score is not a complete scientific test. Results can vary between runs and do not represent every visitor’s experience. Nevertheless, before-and-after checks can reveal a large change worth investigating.
My accordion plugin passed the narrowest test: the expandable sections worked. It failed the wider one because the website became significantly slower.
How many WordPress plugins are too many?
There is no reliable maximum number.
Ten efficient, well-maintained plugins may cause fewer problems than one badly built or poorly configured product. A plugin that performs complicated work on every page could have a greater effect than several small administrative tools.
That does not mean plugin count is irrelevant. Every installed plugin gives you another piece of code to:
- understand;
- configure;
- update;
- check for compatibility;
- troubleshoot;
- assess for continued usefulness.
Instead of asking, “Do I have too many plugins?”, conduct a plugin audit.
Go through the Plugins screen and write one sentence explaining what each plugin does. Then ask:
- Do I still use this function?
- Is another plugin or the host now doing the same job?
- Is it still maintained?
- Do I understand why it is installed?
- Does the feature justify its effect on the site?
If you cannot remember why a plugin is present, that is a reason to investigate—not to delete it blindly. It may supply a function you have forgotten about.
Update plugins with a recovery route
My plugins currently require me to initiate updates manually. When WordPress shows that an update is available, I click to run it.
Historically, I have relied on Wealthy Affiliate’s backup process rather than creating or confirming a fresh backup before each update. As I have thought more carefully about this workflow, I have realised that I should verify the backup first.
WordPress itself advises having a current backup before updating plugins.
A realistic update procedure is:
- Confirm that a recent backup exists and can be restored.
- Review the changelog when the plugin performs an important function.
- Update plugins individually when practical.
- Check the homepage and an ordinary article.
- Test the function supplied by the updated plugin.
- Clear relevant caches if the old version still appears.
- If something breaks, identify the last change and use the available recovery process.
WordPress also allows automatic updates to be enabled separately for individual plugins. Automatic updates can apply fixes without waiting for you to log in. Manual updates allow you to check the backup and test immediately afterwards.
Neither approach removes risk. The appropriate choice depends on how actively you manage the site and how quickly you could detect and recover from a problem.
Remove plugins through WordPress
I try to remove plugins that I no longer use. WordPress provides two separate actions:
- Deactivate stops the plugin from running but leaves it installed.
- Delete removes it after deactivation.
The normal removal route is through the Plugins screen in WordPress.
Plugins can also create settings, database entries, uploaded files or folders. A developer can include an uninstall process that cleans these up, but not every plugin removes everything.
I once found old plugin folders that appeared not to have been deleted properly. I used FileZilla to access the website’s server files while following instructions about removing the leftovers.
I deleted more than the intended folders. Important plugin and other website files disappeared, and I broke the site.
It is a horrible feeling when you think you may have destroyed work that took months or years to create. Fortunately, Wealthy Affiliate support restored the website from its backup.
The lesson is straightforward:
Remove plugins through the WordPress dashboard. If files or data appear to remain, confirm exactly what they are and make sure a backup exists before touching server files.
Check the plugin’s uninstall instructions or ask the hosting provider or developer for help. A beginner should not use FTP merely to make the server folders look tidy.
Custom plugins are an optional later step
Custom plugin development is not part of the basic website-launch process.
Thousands of existing plugins solve common problems. A beginner can build a useful hobby website for years without writing or generating one.
The idea becomes relevant when experience reveals:
- a repetitive task that wastes time;
- an existing tool that does not fit the workflow;
- a specialist feature that would make the website more useful;
- a commercial plugin whose many features are unnecessary for one narrow requirement.
My image plugin is one example of custom development improving the owner’s workflow. I have also developed a small chess-puzzle plugin. It remains a work in progress, but the chessboard, pieces and moves function. That plugin adds specialist functionality for visitors.
Together, they show two possible reasons for custom development. One changes how the site owner works; the other changes what a visitor can do.
ChatGPT inside VS Code produced the code for both plugins. I know very little about programming and could not have written the PHP and JavaScript independently.
My role was to:
- define the problem;
- describe the required behaviour;
- install and try the plugin;
- notice errors or unexpected results;
- provide those errors and symptoms to ChatGPT;
- judge whether the revised version worked.
Reporting problems clearly is a useful skill. You do not always need to solve the technical issue yourself. Sometimes you need to explain what you expected, what happened instead and what error appeared.
AI has therefore made a type of development accessible to me that would previously have been well beyond my skills. However, code that works is not automatically secure, efficient or ready for every situation.
Treat AI-generated code as untested code
I tested my plugins directly on Action With AI. The PNG-to-WebP converter appeared relatively simple, so I did not think installing the test version exposed the website to much risk.
Looking back, “simple” was an assumption based on what the interface did, not on an understanding of the code underneath.
An image-upload plugin may need to handle:
- file-type validation;
- filenames and file paths;
- failed conversions;
- Media Library records;
- user permissions;
- unexpected or malicious input.
WordPress’s plugin security guidance covers matters such as capability checks, data validation, nonces, sanitising input and escaping output. A non-programmer does not need to master all of those before experimenting, but an AI coding assistant should be explicitly asked to review them.
A safer custom-plugin process would be:
- Keep the complete source files outside WordPress and follow the same backup and recovery precautions described above.
- Test first in WordPress Playground, a staging site or another disposable installation, including failed and unusual inputs.
- Ask AI to review the code against current WordPress security and coding practices.
- Keep the plugin’s permissions and scope as narrow as possible.
- Know how to deactivate it if it causes a critical error.
- Retest it after important WordPress or PHP changes.
WordPress Playground provides a browser-based environment for experimenting with WordPress without beginning on the live site. It does not remove the need to test in the real hosting environment before final use, but it can provide a safer first step.
AI can help a non-programmer build a useful tool. It does not transfer responsibility for what that tool does to the website.
A six-question plugin decision
Before installing any plugin, ask:
- What exact function is missing?
- Is it already supplied by WordPress, the theme or the host?
- Does this plugin solve the problem without unnecessary extras?
- Is it maintained, documented and compatible with my setup?
- Can I test it and recover if something goes wrong?
- After installation, is the website better overall?
WordPress can be extended into almost anything. That does not mean every possibility belongs on your website.
Once you have published for a while, repeated work or a specialist idea may reveal something genuinely worth building. Until then, existing well-maintained plugins will solve most common needs.
Install plugins to solve demonstrated problems. Do not install problems while collecting features.