The concept of “apps” has become ubiquitous thanks to smartphone ecosystems created by Apple and Google. We’ve grown accustomed to quickly and easily installing an app, and just as easily removing an app with no repercussions. The “dark ages” of installing software on your PC or Mac, and worrying about incompatibilities, conflicts, and other gotchas seem like a distant memory.
The magic that makes this happen is a system where apps are treated like islands, walled off from other apps and your important smartphone system functions. With these restrictions, apps are less powerful than their desktop counterparts, but the benefit is security, compatibility, and consumer-friendliness.
With these concepts in mind, many websites owners (and some developers) approach WordPress plugins with the same reckless abandon. If they want a new feature, they’ll install a plugin and don’t give much thought to how that plugin may interact with other plugins, or the website itself.
WordPress plugins are not apps and are not walled off from each other, or core WordPress files. In fact, the rich ecosystem of powerful and diverse plugins is what makes WordPress amazing! But with that power comes great responsibility.
Each plugin has to “play nice” with the other plugins, your theme, and WordPress itself.
With too many plugins, or ones that don’t “play nice” a website can become unstable, slow, and a security vulnerability.
Some tips:
1. Regularly review each plugin, determine what it does, and if you need it.
2. Remove plugins you don’t use, or aren’t activated.
3. Use only plugins with active development and support.
4. Pay for plugins that provide your essential website features.
While specific cases vary, 15 plugins is a lot, 25 is probably too many, 30+ is flirting with danger.