Plugins are a piece of software that can be added to a WordPress website. They can improve or extend functionality and add new features to the website.
They are written in PHP programming language and most of them integrate seamlessly with WordPress, but out of over 55 000 plugins available it is a challenge to find the best ones. Before installing one, it is important to check its rating, how long has it been since it was updated, and if it is compatible with the latest version of WordPress.
While there is a myriad of free plugins out there, most of the time they don’t come with the support staff and developers that take care of maintaining security and compatibility of plugins with the latest version of WordPress.
But whether you need a plugin for forms, backup, file management, ad management, pop-ups, payment, or chatting – there is a plugin for everything. We compiled a list of our favorite ones at TechBear, from five different categories.
Gravity Forms is a form management plugin that helps build and publish WordPress forms quickly and easily. If you need to create surveys, polls, file upload forms, support requests, online orders or quizzes – this tool does it all. You are also able to control how users interact with the forms.
The most powerful feature of this plugin is the conditional logic, which can be used to determine which form fields are displayed to a user based on the values entered in the previous fields. You can also set up advanced routing of form entries – this makes sure that messages are delivered to the right department depending on the information entered by the user.
It also integrates with third-party services like PayPal, Signature, Survey, and much more. They have a huge collection of optional add-ons, but you are also able to write your own add-ons if none of the official ones suit your needs. It has well-defined action hooks and documentation.
WooCommerce is an open-source eCommerce platform that powers more than 22% (80 million) eCommerce websites. it is maintained by Automattic – the same company that maintains WordPress – so good quality code and flawless integration are guaranteed. It is built with a REST API, so it can integrate with almost any service.
It is fully customizable; users can add features to extend the functionality of their stores with official extensions: “your store, your way”. WooCommerce comes with the ability to accept major credit cards, bank transfers (BACS), checks and cash on delivery. Apple Pay, Google Pay, subscriptions, and deposits are also supported. If you need help with setting up your WooCommerce, feel free to contact TechBear or any other WooCommerce development company.
Slider Revolution is a visual builder, no coding experience is required. Users can create modern designs in no time. Over 200 templates are included in their online library, which can be easily customized: changing color, text, media or adding or removing layers.
From sliders, headers, content modules to full websites, this plugin does it all. It offers dynamic solutions, which makes it possible to show videos and images from social media feeds. Slider Revolution also has an add-on library with special effects that can further improve the quality of a website and an object library with images, icons and animated layers.
With a rating of 4.9, Popup maker is one of the best WordPress popup plugins, and it is free. If there is an important message that WordPress users want to share with their visitors, then Popup Maker is a great choice. You can create welcome messages or links to the best posts or most popular products. You can specify where on the site the popup should be displayed; choose an animation effect, and how the popup window can be closed. Not only that, but you can decide when and how to trigger the popups: it can be displayed after a set amount of time, and with purchase add-ons, you can use the exit intent trigger or scroll-based trigger.
The free plugin includes just one theme, which is customizable; but if you decide to purchase the Popup maker there are unlimited themes and add-ons that you can choose from, so you can completely customize the appearance of the popup window.
The last plugin that we are going to mention is one of the most essential ones because it helps to keep your WordPress site secure. If an accident or malicious attack leaves you with lost data, Updraft Plus can be a lifesaver. It makes it possible to easily restore files and databases, even if entire websites get hacked, corrupted, or erased.
Updraft Plus allows you to backup and restore files, plugins, and themes at set times. You can schedule a backup every 4, 8, or 12 hours, daily, weekly, fortnightly, or monthly; but you can also do it manually. With Premium membership users can move their WordPress site to a new domain or host directly or clone a temporary site to their servers; get fast, personal support from Updraft Plus developers; backup non-WordPress files and databases; set exact times to create, retain or delete backups; encrypt sensitive databases like passwords and so much more. It is truly an amazing tool that all WordPress developers should look into.
