WordPress plugins are a blessing for WordPress blogs. Like how the iPhone applications are to the iPhone or how the Andriod applications are to the Andriod platform, plugins compliment and improve your blog making it feature-rich and maximizes its potential. However there are several pros and contras of using WordPress plugins which need to be considered up front.

Advantages Of Using WordPress Plugins

1. WordPress plugins enhances content

Plugins like Thumbnails for Excerpt does what it says, adds thumbnails to your excerpts by calling to the first image in the post. WP-Syntax enables developers to publish codes on their sites with pretty highlights and scroll bars. Simple Pull Quote lets you create pull quotes from your main body text and display it where ever you prefer. All these plugins enhances the content on your blog if you know how to use them wisely.

2. WordPress plugins enables Search Engine Optimization

Every blogger out there wants their stuff to come up first in Google or Yahoo searches. Installing plugins like All-in-one SEO, Google XML Sitemaps and Yoast Breadcrumbs provides your blog with the basic requirements for Google and Yahoo to crawl, index and rank your blog with others in the same category.

3. WordPress plugins extends features

Whether you want to host a competition or setup an e-commerce site, WordPress plugins can do that with a click of the Activate button. Plugins like WP e-Commerce provides a shopping cart application for your customers to pick stuff off your shelf and purchase them on your site, instantly transforming your site from a money-pit to an instant cash flow generator.

4. WordPress plugins introduces connectivity

There are vast plugins in the WordPress database which provide connectivity to Twitter, Facebook and many other social networking sites. Mobile plugins like WPtouch enables your site to be connected to the world of mobile Internet. These plugins serve as an extension arm to increase your site’s reach, promote your site and expand your reader base.

5. WordPress plugins reduces development time

The real power of WordPress plugins is to add in all of the above functions without having you to painstakingly hard-code them into your blog. All you have to do is download the plugin, install and activate it. Its that simple and just takes a few seconds. Thats the beauty of WordPress and its plugins. No hassle, no mess and you get a feature-rich world-class WordPress blog.

Disadvantages Of Using WordPress Plugins

1. WordPress plugins increases page load time

Plugins with rich images like SexyBookmarks and comments plugins which pull information from a separate database like IntenseDebate Comments slows down your page. According to the latest Google ranking standards, a page which takes longer to load will be ranked lower than one which loads faster.

2. WordPress plugins promotes other brands which are not yours

Some of the more popular free plugins come together with automatic branding. You install the plugin activate it and smile with glee as your page loads, only to find an annoying colored logo messing up your theme. There are some plugins who give you the option of not showing their logo i.e. Yet Another Related Post Plugin but what about those who don’t? Well you get what you pay for and if you didn’t pay for anything, I guess you’ll just have to promote then.

3. WordPress plugins introduce security issues

You cannot guarantee what that plugin you have just installed contains. Yes it gets the job done but you cannot be sure if you have just installed a Trojan or a backdoor malware into your WordPress blog. You can feel safe about the more popular plugins but what about those which are not? By clicking Activate your are indirectly signing away the security of your WordPress blog.

4. WordPress Plugins introduce compatibility issues

Did you notice that WordPress always urge you to backup your database every time you install a new plugin? Have you experienced a newly installed plugin messing up all your themes with you having to retweak them? Sometimes a new upgrade to an existing plugin will not function properly causing downtime. I personally have experienced new plugins creating problems in my feeds. Now there is even a tool at the plugin installation window which tests the compatibility of the plugin before you choose to download it. New features = new problems especially if the feature is not introduced by WordPress themselves.

Verdict

Plugins should be used sparingly and with caution. If you can do without them by all means go ahead but if you don’t have a choice then make sure you read up on the plugin and the reviews from other users.

So what is it gonna be? Will you use plugins on your WordPress blog? Or would you hard-code all the features you want into your blog yourself? The choice is yours. As for me I’m gonna make do with plugins until I can figure out the coding myself :)