PureBlogging

This is a guest post by Michael Martine. He is a blog consultant and WordPress theme designer and lives online at Better Blogging with Michael Martine.

If you blog on the WordPress platform, you know about plugins. Plugins are modules of PHP code that we “plug in” to WordPress to enhance and extend its capabilities. But when it comes to choosing a plugin, we discover that there are often several that do nearly the same thing! So how do we know the best one to choose? Here are some tips:

1. First, make sure you really need the plugin! Does it help you fulfill the mission of your blog? How does it provide value to your blog’s readers? You should be able to definitively answer these questions, otherwise the plugin might just clutter up your blog’s design.
2. Install the One-click plugin/Firefox extension combo so that you can quickly and easily add plugins.
3. Make sure it’s compatible with the version of WordPress you’re using. This is especially important now that WordPress 2.3 is out. Check the list of WordPress 2.3 compatible plugins.
4. Check the plugin’s installation instructions and other documentation so that you’re sure that it’s going to do what you want. Note whether the plugin requires that you edit WordPress theme files or can be used as a widget.
5. Check the date of the last upgrade to the plugin. You don’t want to waste time or mess up your blog with an old plugin that’s no longer supported or developed.
6. Read the comments or forum posts for issues. This is probably the most important step you should take, because it will show you what problems people are having, and whether or not those problems have been solved. A forum indicates that a plugin has an active community around it.
7. Visit the blogs of those who leave comments so that you can see the plugin at work.
8. Test plugins on a test version of WordPress. You can create a folder on your self-hosted site and install a separate copy of WordPress with its own database for testing purposes. You could also install a testing server on your own computer using a package like WAMP
   
   or XAMPP. This way, you can really see how the plugin will behave and what its features are.

I don’t consider this list to be complete, but only a starting point. Have a tip of your own to add? Leave a comment below and help your fellow bloggers choose the best WordPress plugin.