What are website plugins?
A website plugin adds additional functionality to a WordPress website that isn’t provided as a standard setting by the website builder.
For WooCommerce (eCommerce) stores on WordPress, for example, a plugin may be needed to enable specific product sorting options for customers browsing through your store.
For simplicity’s sake, we can group website plugins can be thought of as one of two formats:
- Performance—These plugins assist with site functionalities such as speed, security, etc., and aren’t typically visible to site visitors on the front end.
- Functional—These plugins, such as appointment booking widgets and event calendars, can be viewed/interacted with by visitors on the site.
Identifying Website Plugins
It may not always be easy to identify what aspects of a website are made possible via a plugin or if they are a default capability of the website builder. When working with Marketing Services, we will be happy to review any website functionality inquiries and help determine what plugins and integrations may be required to achieve your desired effect.
Feel free to send us an email at marketingservices@yourdigitalagents.com
For larger projects (new builds, rebuilds, and imports), request a website quote via our Website Quote Request form.
Plugins/Widgets Marketing Services Can Integrate
When you build a website with us via one of our Website: Up to 3/5/10 Pages products these include the integration of some Standard plugins where the integration cost is included in the price of the website build.
Standard Plugins:
- Simple History
- Defender Pro*
- Divi Accessibility
- Divi Booster
- Divi Plus**
- Gravity Forms
- One-Click Accessibility
- Smush Pro
- WPMU Dev
- WooCommerce
- YoastSEO
- Yoast Breadcrumbs
*Defender Pro is not added to websites automatically but can be added free of charge upon request.
** Divi Plus is only added when needed, as determined by Marketing Services’ website fulfillment team.
Premium Plugins
For all premium plugins, you will need to purchase the license and provide the necessary information (ie. licenses) and credentials to our team for integration. Integration costs are subject to hourly fees. We will not purchase premium plugins on behalf of you/your clients.
Plugin Caveats to Keep in Mind
Integration Process
Integrating a plugin and the associated plugin widgets can be as simple as adding a string of embed code to the site's backend or as complex as spending hours configuring all of the finicky settings to ensure seamless functionality.
Additional Charges/Fees
Additional hourly charges may be required for plugins with complex settings requiring more integration time. To quote out additional plugin integration costs, we consider many factors, including referencing the setup steps, if they’re listed on the plugin provider’s public-facing integration instructions. We aim to recommend plugins that we’ve used previously and thus can provide clearer information about their functionality within the site and what’s required for setup.
If there’s a plugin request that we haven’t used before, we need time to research it and ensure that we can confidently implement it.
Plugin Interaction
Plugins interact with one another, and so while a plugin may be intended for one purpose, it may conflict with other plugins on a specific site and thus not be usable. This is the case whether you build a website with us or another vendor or website developer. Unfortunately, we may not know about the plugins' negative impact until they are installed.
Setting Expectations
Understanding the above points and helping your clients understand these is crucial to setting strong expectations and allowing for conversations to explore alternative options in those scenarios to achieve their goals within their website project.