To expand the basic functionality of a website, many CMSs install add-ons. In particular, WordPress sites can be enhanced with tens of thousands of free and premium plugins. You can choose them depending on your tasks, project specifics, and the specific version of the CMS.
How to add and remove a WordPress plugin
Plugins allow you to avoid long and complex code and get rid of any restrictions, for example, when choosing a new theme. To download and enable a WP plugin, go to the admin panel, find the “Plugins” item in the menu, and click on the “Add New” button.
A window with popular and recommended plugins will open immediately. There is also a search bar there. Next, click “Install” on the page of the desired add-on: the download will start automatically. All that remains is to return to the “Plugins” section on the admin bar, find the new installation, and click “Activate” for the add-on to work.
To remove a plugin, you must first deactivate it in the console. After that, a new link will appear under the name of the add-on. Click on it to delete all the corresponding files. By the way, you can also install or remove a plugin through the hosting control panel.
WP Fastest Cache
A popular WordPress caching plugin that offers an effective solution for speeding up your website. Caching allows you to temporarily store copies of your website content, which simplifies page loading and improves overall performance. Fastest Cache generates static HTML files to reduce database queries, offers options for minifying and combining CSS and JavaScript files, and helps optimize image sizes.
Fastest Cache features an intuitive interface and free basic functionality. However, it may conflict with other plugins, especially those that also affect site loading speed. Using the module is justified if pages open slowly (for example, due to shared hosting or high traffic and server load), but you want to solve the problem and improve the site’s visibility in search engines.
Query Monitor
The plugin provides detailed information about database queries (including query execution time and the call stack that led to it), hooks and filters, PHP errors and warnings. Query Monitor also tracks AJAX requests, displays REST API requests, and identifies scripts and styles on the page, their dependencies, and errors related to their loading. All this makes the plugin an indispensable tool for diagnosing problems and debugging the site: it allows you to identify slow requests in time and improve performance. The Query Monitor interface may seem complicated for users without programming skills and technical knowledge, but mastering the plugin will definitely help during website development, testing, optimization, and maintenance.
Really Simple SSL
This plugin is needed for a simple and quick transition from HTTP to HTTPS. Really Simple automatically detects SSL and reconfigures the site, updating URLs and handling redirects. It corrects the site content to avoid warnings and blocking of downloads over a secure connection.
The basic version of the plugin is free. It is compatible with most other modules and does not require specific technical knowledge. The benefits of switching to HTTPS are obvious: user data is encrypted, and search engines rate the site as more secure.
Contact Form 7
This is a contact form builder that is useful on websites for feedback, newsletter subscriptions, and service orders. It allows you to create forms with different fields: text, email, URL, phone number, drop-down lists, files for download, and so on. The plugin supports integration with Akismet (for spam filtering), CAPTCHA, and Google reCAPTCHA to prevent automatic form submissions.
Thanks to Ajax support, forms can be submitted without reloading the page. It is also possible to customize the content of reply emails. Shortcodes are used to insert forms, making them easy and convenient to place. The plugin is completely free to download and use, but be prepared that knowledge of CSS styles may be required for visual design, and if there are a lot of forms, there is a risk of slow page loading.
