Presentation to WordPress Winnipeg Meetup Group March 7, 2012 on How to Evaluate & Select a WordPress Plugin ---- NOTE: Some of the arrows are not pointing correctly following the Slideshare file import.

1. WordPress Plugin Selection
How to Evaluate & Select
a WordPress Plugin for
____________________
[Your Requirement Here]
Presentation for Winnipeg Wordpress Meetup
– Brent Toderash, March 7, 2012

2. WordPress Plugin Repository
(Logged In)
Rating & Other
Critical Information
Search the Repo with Google

3. Google Search
General Terms + “wordpress plugin”
Ads: Assume Paid Plugin
First Actual Result?
WordPress Plugin Repository

4. Google Search Result #1
Preview: WordPress
Plugin Repository

5. Google Search Result #2
Preview: Plugin Site
Note:
- Domain
- Not a Personal Site

6. Google Search Result (Other)
Of Dubious Practical Value
Plugin on Personal Site
A Sales Pitch: Really?

7. Some Trusted Plugin Authors
- Automattic
- Alex King / Crowd Favorite
- Joost de Valk (“Yoast”)
- Andrew Nacin - Automattic WordPress Team
- Justin Tadlock - WordPress Contriubutors
- Brad Williams - Former Contributors
- Ozh Richard - Professional Developers
- Scribu - WordPress Experts & Community Members
- Mark Jaquith
- Otto - daveligthart.com/top-1000-wordpress-plugin-authors/
- Matt Weibe / Modern Tribe
- Nick Ohrn

8. Advanced Evaluation Criteria
- WP Coding Standards Used?
(“Doing things the WordPress Way”)
- Responsive Support
(Are they in the forums?)
- Sensible Support Responses
(chmod 777 = BAD!)
- Namespacing
(Class & Function Prefixes)
- Internationalization
(Supports Translation)
- Plugin Version Number
(Check the Changelog!)

9. Basic Evaluation Criteria
- Is this the author's first plugin? Why did they write it?
- Are there multiple contributors?
- How is it rated in the WordPress Repository?
- How frequently is it updated?
- When was the most recent update?
- How many downloads?
- What are people saying in the support forums?
- Is the solution simple or complex?
- Does it import/export data, if applicable?
- Does it uninstall cleanly?
- Does it support internationalization?
- Screenshots
- Readme file
- Options page
- Plugin author's site (is s/he still using it?)
- Is it released under the GPL?

10. WordPress Plugin Selection
Happy WordPress-Extending!