Prevent WordPress Plugins From Breaking Your Website

Plugins are an integral part of WordPress websites due to their ability to incorporate custom features. These features help you extend the functionality of your website. Whilst WordPress plugins are necessary; there is a risk of each plugin you add breaking your site. And this is because not all plugins are appropriate for your site. Careful planning and execution can Prevent WordPress Plugins From Breaking Your Website, giving your visitors a pleasurable browsing experience.

The Following Issues May Arise If You Install Plugins Randomly:

In some cases, some plugins can malfunction during a WordPress update, resulting in errors or broken pages on your website.
Certain plugins tend to be incompatible with customized source code causing your website to break.
WordPress Plugins are known to consume many resources, causing additional server load, and slowing down your website.

Check List To Prevent WordPress Plugins From Breaking Your Website

Since it takes an experienced programmer to diagnose if a plugin will break your site before installation, prevention is always the best solution. We have compiled a shortlist of tentative measures to reduce your site’s risk of being a victim of defective WordPress plugins.

1- Install Trusted Plugins

Herd mentality is the way to go when choosing a WordPress plugin. I always check the number of active users before picking a plugin. And make it a point to check the last update date and read any feedback before installing a plugin to see any widespread or recurrent problems. A plugin with a lot of active users and a recent update indicates how well it is managed and supported.

2- Limit the Number of Plugins

Excessive plugin usage could be the cause of your website’s downtime. Your website’s functionality might be compromised if you use too many plugins. A plugin’s poorly written code will interfere with WordPress’s source code, the theme you’ve chosen, or even another plugin. And by removing unnecessary data from your website, you will not only reduce your chances of running into this problem but will also make it easier to handle.

3- Select a Popular, Trustworthy Theme

To operate smoothly and efficiently, plugins require seamless integration. Your WordPress plugins and themes source code will be consistent if you use a similar theme. As technology advances, your theme must be updated regularly to keep up with the latest plugin development technologies.

4- Take Advantage of Caching to Prevent WordPress Plugins From Breaking Your Website

A cache is a form of storing frequently requested data allowing it to be retrieved faster. The primary goal is to reduce the time it takes to reach the slower storage layer underneath it. Your users would be able to access the details on your website more quickly if you reduce the time it takes to load a page.

5- Compress Your Web Pages Content

Compressing your web pages to increase website speed and improve the user experience will enable your website to run smoothly. It will have minimal errors if you optimize your code, compress files, and reduce your system’s weight.

6- Select a Reliable WordPress Host

The hosting you choose will have a major impact on the success of your website. Scalability will be provided over time by a fast, stable, and reliable host. Hence avoid low-cost shared hosting because the traffic of other businesses can affect your WordPress website’s efficiency. Invest in dedicated hosting to avoid external factors interfering with your ability to have a productive web experience.

7- Take Backups Regularly

Backups are critical, and you should not ignore them. If you don’t back up your site, you might not be able to restore what you’ve lost if anything goes wrong. Moreover, you should perform backups regularly and particularly before installing new plugins. In conclusion, it would be a bummer to lose half of your website’s content because you didn’t back it up regularly.

8- Source for Malicious Attacks to Prevent WordPress Plugins From Breaking Website

Plugins created without considering security best practices put the website at risk of viruses and attacks. These vulnerable plugins act as a backdoor to your website’s source code, allowing attackers to inject malicious scripts.

Conclusion

You will reduce the chance of your website crashing by adopting these standard practices I have outlined. And keep in mind that developers update continually the source code for plugins and themes therefore no one can guarantee that your website will not break. You must stay informed and monitor these changes. This is why you should always update your WordPress plugins list. Because it’s not only about the WordPress plugins you need, but it’s about the plugins that will keep your WordPress website healthy and running.

I hope this WordPress tutorial helped you learn the steps to Prevent WordPress Plugins From Breaking Your Website. And for more WordPress, free step-by-step tutorials visit our dedicated WordPress Tutorials section (You can find more tutorials like How to Easily Disable the Fullscreen Editor in WordPress) and check our WordPress hosting providers guide if you are still looking for a host to start your blog.