Plugin, What Is That?

A WordPress Site

A WordPress site consists of:

• The CMS system WordPress

• Themes: the design of my website

• Plugins: more on this later.

• Widgets: similar to apps on my mobile, additions to my website.

What Are Plugins?

Plugings are pieces of software, written for WordPress and developed by third parties that I add to my website. A plugin makes it possible to add something to the website, for example a contact form.

Are Plugins Safe?

Plugins are a piece of software so they too can contain security holes and vulnerabilities. There are a number of ways that I can safely use plugins in my WordPress site, namely:

• Before installing a plugin, read carefully what it does and the experiences of others with it

• Choose especially plugins with 4 or more stars, because these are most of the time safer

• Choose plugins that are updated/maintained by the creator

• Update plugins as soon as there is a new update. Don't do this with New versions of WordPress, wait a while with this. The first version of a new WordPress version contains most of the time vulnerabilities

• If I do come across a bad plugin, disable it completely on the website and delete it

• Sometimes a plugin does not go with the choosen theme or other plugins. Disable the plugin and find another one to avoid problems with the website.

How Do I Find The Right Plugin?

There are a few steps I take in finding a good plugin for a Wordpress website:

• Think in advance what I want the plugin to do

• Search for a suitable plugin by the keyword that suits what the plugin has to do

• Get a list of plugins that, for example, create contact forms. 

• Look at the plugins with 4 or 5 stars. Read the description and the experiences of others with the plugins with 4 or 5 stars

• Install it and test if it works well with the theme and other plugins.

With every plugin I install, I consider whether I really need it on my website. Keep testing plugins like contact forms, because they can go sour after a while.

WordPress Functions I had

• 2018 - 2020 Instagram posting at I-Animal (volunteer)

• 2017 - 2019 Secretary on the board of Stichting Anoiksis Beheer (volunteer)

• 2017 - 2018 Communication officer at Nederlandse Volksbuurtmuseum (volunteer)

• 2015 - 2019 Workshop Pr & Sociale Media (entrepreneur)

•     2015   WordPress With Kids (entrepreneur)

• 2014 - 2015 Managing The WordPress Team Veerkrachtfabriek (entrepreneur)

• 2013 - 2021 Building WordPress websites for entrepreneurs & NGO'S (entrepreneur)

• 2012 - 2019 Workshop SEO, Google Analytics & Google Tools (entrepreneur)

• 2012 - 2018 Social Media Courses (entrepreneur)

• 2012 - 2014 Hootsuite (entrepreneur)

• 2009 - 2013 Webmaster at Tennisclub PVC (volunteer)