How does the availability of plugins influence the choice of CMS for website developers in 2018?	1.5/5.0 (2 votes total) Rate: Select 1 - Terrible 2 - Poor 3 - Average 4 - Good 5 - Outstanding
Sujain Thomas April 10, 2018

Managing website content has become easier than ever before. With the introduction of the new content management system applications, you can manage all sorts of content on your website. The new CMS platforms provide a consolidated control panel that can help you manage all your website features, add or remove media or text from your website, update URLs, monitor website speed, monitor performance of each post and make changes to facilitate the better growth of the site.

As a result, most developers are choosing the ready-to-use website development features of these CMS platforms to carve their online presence and establish their shop. Moreover, each CMS platform is ready to pamper the users with a flurry of plug-ins, extensions, and add-ons that allow the developers to add new functions to their respective sites. It is incredibly easy for website owners to turn their business portfolios into seller websites with just one plug-in addition.

What are plugins?

In general, plug-ins or extensions refer to a bunch of codes that can add one or more features to your website. The addition of a bunch of new codes to the site does not interfere with the basic functions, and it does not intrude with the performance quality. Plug-Ins for optimizing site speed, cache clearing, and SEO often helps the websites perform better. As far as modern CMSs are concerned, plugins go by several names. Extensions, modules, and interfaces are all versions of plugins for the several popular CMS platforms developers use today. Your ecommerce development company should be able to guide you through the process of selection and installation of plugins during the extension of your website functions.

How does the selection of plugins vary with the choice of CMS?

WordPress

While WordPress controls almost 30% of the web, we need to visit the reasons for its popularity.

1. It is super easy to download, install and use.
2. It gives complete control of website content.
3. WordPress has a tantalizing collection of templates and themes that are SEO ready.
4. The WordPress plug-ins directory is a rich reserve that can add any function to a website conceivable.

WordPress has several popular and highly reviewed plugins, but only a few of them come along with the core templates.

• One of the most popular and also default plugins for WordPress is Akismet. This is an anti-spam plug-in that can check your comments and form submissions for spam. It can compare the data against a database to keep your website from deleterious content.
• Yoast SEO for WordPress is the next most popular plug-in. Any WordPress developer, who has worked at least once on this CMS platform, has used Yoast for sure. It is one of the most advanced plugins that can take care of content quality, keywords, URL structure, title tags, meta descriptions, SEO slugs and everything else your website needs to stay visibility.

Joomla

Joomla is the creative and code-efficient website developer's choice. This is a more complex system that requires an avid knowledge of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for easy personalization. Beginners usually shy away from using Joomla since plug-ins comprise only one of the many extension types. These are advanced extensions that can add new functions or hone inherent functions of any template.

There are several must-have plugins for all Joomla website developers. Here are a few your website must contain to remain at the top of every related Google SERP this year –

• JSitemap: This is the leading XML sitemap generator for almost all Joomla sites. If you want the Google search engine bots to crawl every corner of your website and index your website components, your website needs the JSitemap.
• Google Structured data markup: the latest Google Algorithm Update shows Google’s distinct penchant for structured data markup. This is the ultimate SDM plug-in for all Joomla websites that enable you to assume control of all your Google search results.
• JRedirects: This is a plug-in that helps Joomla developers stay in touch with inbound links and outbound links. This one can monitor backlinks and notify the users when 301 redirects arise. This plug-in can automate the management and monitoring process.

Working with Joomla CMS comes with the distinct perk of enjoying varied function extension with the help of trusted plugins and various extensions.

Drupal

The module is to Drupal, what plugins are to WordPress. Drupal is the favorite of the more code-savvy and tech-savvy website developer. Several plug-ins can help you create a multi-functional site. In fact, the best-kept secret of a powerful Drupal website is the inclusion of smartly chosen modules. Right now, a single search could place you in front of a thousand different modules to choose from. Although a little more complex than its contemporaries, Drupal makes up for its complexity with the help of easy add-on functions in the form of downloadable and installable modules.

1. There are at least 40 different module categories you can choose from
2. You can use eight different filtering options for finding the right modules.
3. You can also create and share your module with other Drupal developers.

The Chaos Tool Suite is the all-you-need solution for all Drupal developers. It includes several plugins, AJAX responders and requests, contexts, form tools, exportables and pluggable content types. The Chaos Tool Suite is a set of tools and APIs that can help you create an impeccable developer experience.

Other CMS platforms like Magento offer plug-in facilities for their users, but not as widely as WordPress or Joomla or Drupal. For example – developers cannot use Magento plugins or interceptors for final classes, final methods, virtual types, non-public methods and class methods. There are several ways to declare plugins on Magento, sort them in priority order and define their configuration. However, the process is not as simple as the platforms mentioned above.

Although we have mentioned only four platforms here, several platforms can help you build a website as well as manage the data that keeps the site running. The choice of your CMS will depend on its usability, simplicity, and intuitiveness towards the growth of a website along with its primary database. Therefore, it is no wonder that most first-timers as well as expert developers gravitate towards WordPress time and again.