Counterfoil

Nominate a Tool for the Catalogue: Best and Worst WordPress Plugins

Recommend any tool or technological system through our general contact form.

WordPress is our favourite open web tool for building things, but everyone who has used WordPress tends to have a love-hate relationship with its plugin ecosystem. When a plugin is good, it can be really, really good. When a plugin is bad, it can be really, really bad — and the accumulative effect of multiple mediocre to lousy plugins can make people give up on using a WordPress site as a useful tool entirely.

Which WordPress plugins make a site better without taking anything away from the people who run it? Which ones do the opposite? Tell us about one of each, or just one.

You don’t need to be a developer. The form asks whether the plugin does its job, then six plain questions about what it costs you to use it. Answer what you can: “Not sure” is a good answer.

We read every nomination, and the most useful ones become catalogue records. We may quote what you write, without your name. Your name and email are optional and used only to follow up (see Privacy). The thinking behind the questions is in How we evaluate tools.

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Thank you for your response. ✨

Are you nominating a best plugin or a worst one?(required)
Does it do the job it promises?(required)
Is it heavy? Does it slow your site, bloat the database, or use more of your server than the job needs?(required)
Does it lock you in? If you stopped using it, would you lose content, settings, or links?(required)
Does it need an expert? Can an ordinary site owner set it up and fix it, or does everyday use need a specialist or paid support?(required)
Does someone else hold the controls? Think upsells and nags, tracking, required accounts, or features that stop working if a company’s servers go away.(required)
Does it keep forcing change? Updates that break things, features taken away, or pressure to upgrade before you are ready.(required)
Does it cost you more than it gives back? Think of the time, attention, money, or upkeep it takes, against what it does for you.(required)