Functionality
Wordpress has it by the bucket-load
There are so many plugins for Wordpress, free and paid, that almost anything you can think of doing is likely to be covered.
Ecommerce, booking systems, help desks, job boards, directories, image galleries, forum, social platforms, calendars, sliders, you name it!
Often the best solution is found by combining and configuring the right plugins so that they work together nicely and create the best fit for your needs and niche.
Custom Post Types
Built in to WordPress is the ability to create custom post types. This makes it a very flexible system to use for niche markets that need more functionality than pages and post; categories and tags can provide.
Essentially Custom Post Types are used to create sophisticated catalogues. Most plugins create and manage CPTs; products, bookings, vacancies, listings for example.
CPTs can make niche market web sites much easier to build and manage.
Understanding Custom Post Types
CPTs can be used for example to create:
- Family Trees or Breeder related information
- Pet Rescue, Adoption, Sponsorship
- Specialist Clubs or Catalogues
CPTs allow for custom taxonomies which can be seen in listings and used in searches.
What is a Taxonomy?
Anything you like that is related to your CPT! Far easier to understand using real life examples:
- Pet Rescue
- Sex
- Age
- Vaccinations
- Spayed/Neutered
- Book Club
- Genre
- Author
- Publisher
- ISBN
- Recipe
- Ingredients
- Preparation Time
- Cooking Time
- Oven Temperature
WordPress Plugins
Plugins are an easy way of adding functionality without the need to manually create custom post types. If you are new to WordPress, a good place to start exploring the possibilities that they offer is the Plugin Directory.
The plugins in the directory are all free, although they will often have a premium version which has more functionality. One of the huge advantages of using WordPress is the number of developers creating these plugins.
There are other places to find premium plugins, including Envato's Code Canyon.
Premium Plugins
License to use premium plugins can be on a one-off or subscription basis. Don't be tempted by sites that offer premium plugins, or themes, very cheaply of free. Nulled plugins, which bypass the license fee system, can be infected with malware and will not update which poses a security risk to your site.
Code Canyon's licenses are lifetime licenses that operate on a Per Site. Other plugins may be licensed on an annual or lifetime/one-off basis. It is not guaranteed that all plugins will play nicely with one another so check before purchasing.
It is worth remembering that both premium and free plugins may need to be replaced with an alternative if the developer decides to cease work on the plugin.
