WordPress Plugins are like the heart of any WordPress theme development. WP plugins are the decisive factor in the website’s success or failure. A plugin is generally a series of functions which can be added to your WordPress website in order to extend the functionality of the website. They are mostly preferred option than using themes as they can be switched on and off.
But sometimes excessive use of WP Plugins can cause an error in the functionality of the website. There can be many reasons behind the errors such as bad coding, conflict with WordPress or conflict with some theme and many other. Following are certain crucial tips to avoid error caused due to any reason.
1 – Make use of a solid framework
In every WordPress site, there are theme or framework used along with WordPress Plugins. But the quality of the plugins, as well as frameworks used, are the main reason behind the speed of a website. So one of the most important things to be kept in mind while using a plugin or framework is the selection of the framework. As every theme is unique in its own way and all are better than other. Hence the selection becomes hard. The framework chosen by you must be lightweight hence it would be fast. Ask a WordPress development company to provide you with a solid, robust framework.
2 – Make use of Content Delivering System
A Content Delivering System can offer various benefits other than reducing error. The Content Delivering System is the one which firstly takes away all your files (CSS, JavaScript, Images) and then offers them on a server which is closer to the visitor, and this practice decreases the download time. Therefore, the speed of the website is never a problem if we use Content Delivering Network. It additionally affects your visitor’s experience, bounce rate and even SEO.
3 – Optimize the database by WordPress
If the database of WordPress exceeds the limit of 100 page, it has a tendency to lower down the speed of the website. Hence there is a necessity to regularly optimize the database. The database should be kept clean by disabling or limiting post revisions, deleting old versions. Hence optimize your WordPress database periodically to avoid errors caused by WordPress Plugin.
4 – Use Caches
Use of caches is an important factor while talking about the speed of WordPress website. The process of caching stores your pages & posts as some static files which are later on served to your visitors by decreasing the processing load on the server.
5 – Gzip Compression
Compression is necessary to reduce the size of the website. Gzip is a form of compression which helps you compress the web pages, CSS, and javascript at the server level even before sending them over to the browser. Even if you are using heavy weight framework, compressing it with Gzip compression will help you reduce the weight of the framework and as a result, it will enhance the speed of the website.
6 – Use MySQL Tuning
Using MySQL Tuning in a WordPress website is a necessary thing. Along with that, optimizing them regularly is another important task to be done. As it is a very specific network for a particular region, it can not offer recommended usage. The most recommended tool is the MySQL Tuner script. It does not make any configuration changes to the website as it’s a read-only system.
7 – Specify Dimensions of Image
Whichever website it is, the dimension of the image always affects the speed of the website. For a WordPress website, compressing is necessary along with dimension. Using a specific dimension for every image can make you speed up your website. When uploading an image on a WordPress website, have a practice of cropping them with Photoshop, paint, or any other.
8 – Select a Reliable Host
The host of your website plays a major role in every case. Choosing a fast and reliable host can make a lot of changes to your website. It can be a most important decision to select a reliable host. Staying away from cheap shared hosting is recommended as they increase the traffic to their servers which will let you share your data with hundreds of people. A managed WordPress host is a better option for those who are less tech savvy. You can also contact a WordPress Development company for the same.
9 – Empty Spam Comments Periodically
Spam are the things which do nothing but occupies the space of the server. Why keep such stuff! Once, space is totally occupied, it will reduce the speed of the website. Ultimately, in order to avoid the error caused by WordPress Plugin, you must empty the spam comments on a regular basis.
10 – Disable Hotlinking
Hotlinking is the process which can be done when you require direct linking to one of your images. It is not the necessity every time. When someone visits your website, he gets redirected to the image and loading the website catches the loading speed of the website. You can disable your hotlinking, or ask your WordPress development company to do so, in order to increase the speed of the website.
11 – Disable Pingbacks & trackbacks
Pingbacks & trackbacks are now the legacy features for the WordPress website, and so they become a vital reason behind the slow speed of the website. These can be disabled from the discussion settings in WordPress. It makes it easy for the site to load without pingbacks.
12 – Optimize Web Font Performance & Icons
Font are the most neglected thing nowadays, everyone can make a mistake of ignoring that. But maximum websites lack here. According to a report, 57% of websites use custom fonts. Fonts are the thing where you do not need to make anything extra. You should serve only what is required in form of fonts. Also, font icons should be optimised. Font Awesome are the least recommended font style by any major WordPress development company in WordPress theme.
13 – Reduce Misc HTTP Requests
Reducing the HTTP requests can be one of the most important things WordPress can do. In order to reduce HTTP requests, you can either disable gravatars or use Disqus. Both of these can make the speed of the website faster.
14 – Optimize Images
Images, as discussed above are the very important factor that matters to the speed of the website. Here it is recommended to optimise the images using lossless compression. Lossless is a method used to optimise images, reduce the size of the image along with the same quality. In Addition, to that, you should also select fast loading WordPress theme for your website.
15 – Take Backups On a Regular Basis
Whether it is your laptop or any website, every media requires backup on a regular basis, which helps to improve the working of the website. Once the backup is taken, it will be refreshed and will load with better speed.
Keep these tips in mind and avoid the errors created by WordPress Plugins!