You might be using WordPress for your blog, business reasons or simply to publish art and photographs. The theme you opt for makes a big difference to how you are perceived by your audience. If the layout you have chosen displays your brand and content in the best possible way, it says that you take care of your content and it will immediately set you apart from the rest.

If you are looking for trustworthy themes and plugins, there are a few ideas you can follow to ensure quality and safety as well. You will be able to find themes that are high on functionality, can be easily customized and what’s more, you can also make the most out of features that will hold you in good stead for a long time.

WordPress Directory should be trusted

You can find a wide range of free plugins and themes in the WordPress plugin directory. If there are any abusive themes or plugins they get removed immediately and there’s a review for a most of them, giving you much needed peace of mind.

Pay attention to download counts and reviews

If you look at the download count you will see that some of the trusted plugins have more than 100,000. It says a lot about their credibility. Of course there will be new plugins high on quality, but their download count will be lower.

Registered users also have the option of rating plugins and themes up to 5. If you look at these ratings you will have a fair idea of how these plugins perform on people’s sites. They also give you a better idea about specific features or if there are any conflicts with particular themes and plugins for that matter.

Rely on support areas

You will find support areas for all plugins and themes; it’s a good idea to look at these areas to know if there are any issues and how the installation would affect you. You can also look at the number of threads labelled (resolved) because it’s an indication of author’s activity in the area. It will be quite transparent if support is offered and the bugs are getting fixed as they should be.

Versions are important

When you look for plugins find out when they were last updated. It’s considered a good practise to ignore a plugin that hasn’t been updated for over two years. The reason for that is WordPress as a core code has evolved in two years. There are new processes and functions that have to be adopted so that it’s compatible with present versions.

Do not download free theme

It might be tempting to get free version of a premium plugin or theme but it has to be avoided. It is often a straightforward option for many, but the problem is that the zip file could be tampered with by just about anyone. The code can contain something that could affect your site’s performance and security both, which is why these themes should not be trusted.

base64_decode is a huge problem

base64_decode, is often the main reason behind abusive scripts and can be found by searching the entire theme or all plugin files. Though the function may have come into being with honest intentions, it has been misused to a great extent. Often developers use it to insert encoded scripts that you cannot find easily.

There are some definite signs of themes and plugins that are not well developed; you can spot them and avoid those that can do you more harm than good.

Comments matter a lot

Comments should be paid attention to when buying a theme because they tell you what others think of them. They also tell you more about problems that can crop up with certain themes and the responses you can get from the author. From the frequency of responses to the kind of time you can expect a response, from quality of response to the number of people you might be dealing with these comments can give you a lot of valuable insight.

Keep it simple

It’s not difficult to find free themes with complex features and they tend to make the display look quite good. But your functionality suffers in the process. If you want to choose such a theme then you need to get a custom one, which can ensure functionality.

Browser compatibility should be checked

The theme you choose should be compatible with all browsers. Themes can be w3 valid and cross browser compatible as then no one gets left behind. However, there are those who feel that you shouldn’t worry about old browsers like IE6 and many tech designers today don’t seem to worry about Internet Explorer compatibility at all.

Count the stars

You will find that all plugins have ratings from 1 to 5 and they are based on the votes from the community. It cannot be the sole factor to determine the usefulness of a plugin but it can give you a fair idea about the user experience it offers. Those with a rating of 4 and above should be given credence. However, if you notice plugins with a rating of 5 with only users casting their vote then you have to be a bit cautious.

Author bio:

I am Ramya Raju a freelance web design writer with 8 yrs of extensive blogging experience on a variety of online publishing and social-media platforms. I generally write high-quality articles on travel, photography, SEO, Web design, English courses, and generic topics too. I’m also an extrovert with a passion for photography, anthropology and travelling to different countries to learn the culture and living of the local inhabitants.

Contact:
Ramya Raju
E-mail id: ramyaraju896@gmail.com
Website: http://www.colorcharacter.com/uk/services