WordPress Plugin & Theme Treasures Await Ye Aharr

The lesser spotted WordPress plugin

This site is designed to highlight and perhaps introduce plugins and themes that sometimes get overlooked for more popular one’s, or indeed one’s that pay more affiliate commission. I have been working with WordPress for around 10 years now and there are trusted places I can go to for reliable feedback on the best plugin. But not everyone has that, especially people starting out with WordPress. When I do I find myself Googling plugins, I become increasingly frustrated by the same lists presented, with the same info.

So this site is intended to shake things up a bit. And hopefully introduce you to plugins or themes that you haven’t yet tried or heard of but will help you out in your WordPress life.

A WordPress Revolution?

Not a revolution but a different way of doing things. I want to focus on the smaller developers who have a hard time getting noticed. One of my favourite ever plugins, which is truly a WordPress treasure is run by a sole developer. This plugin is brilliant. It saves clicks and times and is something that in my opinion should be part of WordPress core. But as it’s not, I’m delighted that this developer makes money from it. Because it’s brilliant. And the biggest bargain in the whole world of WordPress, with a free version to test drive first. If by now you haven’t right clicked to open a new tab (or clicked to read about it and then clicked back) then do it!

In a nutshell I’d love for smaller plugins and developers who don’t usually get much love to become better known. When I first started using WordPress one of the things that stood out for me was the open source aspect and the amazing community. So many people willing to give their time to support and help others. And amazing free plugins! I couldn’t quite believe it. Whilst the introduction of Gutenberg into core WordPress did divide that community and I saw some great people decide that WordPress was no longer for them, I’m still grateful that the great community is still there.

WordPress Buyouts

As well as the introduction of Gutenberg, the other main change I have seen in the last few years of WordPress is the buyout of smaller WordPress plugins and themes by much larger companies. To be clear I have nothing against this. I’m really happy for those companies who get a big cash injection because we all need to put food on the table for our kids and put a roof over our heads. But whilst I am happy for those developers, I have to be honest and say that my heart sinks a little each time I hear about a buyout. Why? Because it feels like something is being lost in the bigger ocean. In the same way that I’d feel sad if my local, independent coffee shop was bought out by Starbucks.

Big Name Plugins & Themes

Just because the site is designed to focus on smaller developers, it doesn’t mean that some big names within WordPress won’t be included here. If they are listed it will be for one of the below reasons:

• Perhaps there just isn’t a good, small, lesser known plugin for the job
• Due to the amount of functionality required, it might be too much for a small developer.
• Big names can still be independently owned by the founders (Beaver Builder spring to mind) and these will absolutely get my love
• You will also find me including plugins and themes that have been bought out by larger companies. If I do so, it will only be those where I know (or hear from others if it’s not a plugin/theme I usually use) that the original developer is still a major working force behind the scenes.

Exclusions

I have lots of love for sole and small developers. However if the developer is a dickhead, knobhead or anything else that can be prefixed or suffixed with a rude body part then they won’t be included. Nor a developer who goes out of their way to trash competitors.

Plugins/themes that don’t offer a minimum of a 14 day refund for their pro version will also be excluded. It’s rare that I ever need to refund a plugin but I want that reassurance. And no teeny tiny small print in the “30 day money back guarantee” that excludes pretty much every single reason that you might want to refund. Because these things matter. In fact while I’m here, I’d like to give a shout out to Barn2. Why? Because I did request a refund from them years ago and it was given with grace and in the nicest possible way. The way you treat customers matters. Barn2 did a sterling job which is why, several years later they popped into my head whilst typing this.

Annual renewals that take payment without giving you advance notice. I know, I know it’s our job to keep track of licences. But sometimes things happen. We’re all human. And if you take an annual payment without forewarning and then refuse to refund that, then there is no place for you in this treasure chest.