Why you should not use too many plugins?

We all know plugins are important and sometimes necessary to keep the site running. But you need to be careful with the choice of plugins and only use the necessary ones for you on the website.

This will reduce the number of plugins installed and will help you better manage your website and load it fast.

We all know that the WordPress plugin library provides some very awesome plugins for free, but we should only install the very necessary ones. The use of plugins should be very limited and should be used only to solve specific problems and not very frequently.

To make the most effective use of a plugin, it is imperative to initiate it from a sound and sturdy source, and should be used only when unavoidable. However, if the plugins are used in bulk, many hindrances can be caused.

Why Too Many Plugins Shouldn’t Be Used?

The issue caused by too many plugins will depend on the type of plugins you’ve installed, how they’re coded, how many are currently active, and more.

One of the biggest problems with too many plugins installed on the site is that it can slow down the site.

According to a survey, 60% of visitors abandon the site if it takes more than three seconds to show up on the browser. Thus, you must keep a check on the number of plugins you install such that your site’s success doesn’t get hampered.

Below are some reasons why one shouldn’t use many WordPress plugins:

1. Bad Performance & Slow Page Speed:

Fast-loading websites are crucial for engaging site visitors. But the more plugins installed on your site can show a direct impact on its speed.

The induction of a plugin can affect the speed of your site and make it ponderous. The plugin while being used, itself inserts its codes into the website which you are using at the current moment.

Even so, if the codes are not required for the website, still they get installed on it. Such unnecessary installation, however, leads to an effect on the download time and user interface. So the less code, the better your site’s loading speed will be.

2. Security Vulnerabilities:

If you don’t have a secure website, all the hard work that you put into designing the site or creating content can get destroyed by hackers. And according to a survey, digital attacks are coming quicker and faster.

A hacked website can destroy your business’s reputation in the online marketplace, and also hinder your brand’s privacy.

With the use of a plugin, there can be many serious security issues that can surface since these plugins act as a magnet for different bugs and viruses, which hit the plugin and can, in turn, affect the website as well as in current use of that affected plugin.

3. Increases the RAM:

Every WordPress site has a unique database that contains all of its data. With each plugin installed on the site, the RAM tends to increase, and sometimes it creates unnecessary files that make the loading slow.

Plugins tend to increase the RAM of the website and can act as a troublesome burden, and they make the website heavier in terms of the RAM quantity.

Thus, it is vital to keep an eye on the number of plugins being installed on the site. If you find any unnecessary plugins on your site, ensure that you delete them and also clear the cache files related to that plugin.

4. Website Crashes:

Not even the most experienced web developer can avoid some issues with WordPress plugins. Because WordPress is an open-source project, people are free to create, use, change, and share all software related to WordPress.

This means that there’s a possibility of getting a plugin or two with poor codes. But keep in mind that installing these poor-coded plugins can crash the website.

Every plugin comes with its fair share of bugs. Also, many plugins are poorly coded. These plugins, if installed, can crash the website which will create problems for the developer to rectify the issue.

How Many Plugins Is Too Many?

Honestly speaking, there are not a number of plugins that should be used by the users. It depends on the kind of web hosting you’re currently using.

For shared hosting, consider using 0 to 5 plugins.

For cloud hosting, VPS, or dedicated server, you can use 5 to 20 plugins.

Tips to Cut down The Number of Plugins

You’ll never find any hard and fast rules for the number of plugins you can or can’t use. That’s the reason you should follow the below-mentioned tips to cut down the number of plugins that you have installed on your site.

1. Use Only Necessary Plugins:

A small website might run with a few plugins, but for a larger one to run, you might need to take help from quite a several plugins. A good practice is to only install the plugins that you need.

Additionally, you must test the plugins before you install them on your site such that possible complications are avoided.

Go through the list of plugins, if you find any plugins that you no longer need or use, go ahead and uninstall them. When considering removing some plugins, be honest about the plugins that are important to you.

2. Update Existing Plugins:

Oftentimes, regular updates are released for the plugins. These updates include essential patches that get covered in the security of the plugin.

According to a study, more than 50,000 websites got hacked due to a corrupt plugin. It was due to a bug that enabled hackers to upload the files directly from the server and take control of the entire site.

That being said, you must update the plugins regularly as soon as the updates are released. To know if the updates are available, check out the ‘Updates’ section of your dashboard.

3. Install Only Reputable Plugins:

When choosing new plugins to add to your site, there are a few steps that you can use while installing them to ensure that they are reputed.

Firstly, check out the date when the plugin was last updated. If you notice that it hasn’t been updated over a while now, cross it out of the list.

Check out the total number of downloads and reviews that a plugin has. You must consider a plugin with over 100,000 downloads and four stars.

Check the ‘Support’ tab for each of the plugins that you might be considering. It should be redirecting you to a forum or support page. If it doesn’t, move ahead.

Consider reviewing the plugin’s code before downloading it to ensure it’s clean and short.

4. Delete Inactive Plugins from the Site:

Inactive plugins installed on your site can be used by hackers to gain access to your site. Thus, ensure that you delete your site.

Log in to the wp-admin of your site and search for the ‘Plugins’ in the left section of the dashboard. Uninstall the plugins that are under the ‘Inactive’ tab.

Lastly, click the ‘Deactive’ and ‘Delete’ buttons to remove the plugin and its files completely from the site.

Conclusion

No doubt, WordPress plugins are vital for developing and maintaining a successful website. But, having too many plugins on a WordPress site is harmful since it can lead to security breaches, site crashes, slow website speed, and more.

A good rule of thumb is to never exceed more than 20 plugins on your site. If your site is hosted on shared hosting, consider using only 5 plugins.

Consider using the plugins that you need and updating them regularly such that security loopholes are fixed. Also, remove any inactive plugins on your site and install the plugins from only reputable websites.

We hope that this blog proved to be helpful for you, don’t forget to tell us about it in the comments section.

Do check out our other blog on WordPress, that is, Step-to-Step Guide to Develop a WordPress Plugin.