How an IT expert selects plugins after an AI to WordPress migration
A practical method to choose a small, reliable set of WordPress plugins after converting an AI-built website, without bloat or risk.
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The temptation of sixty plugins
WordPress has tens of thousands of plugins, and after a migration it is tempting to install one for every small wish. I have inherited sites with more than sixty active plugins, several doing the same thing, some abandoned for years. Those sites were slow, fragile and difficult to update. Every plugin is code from a third party running on your server, so every plugin is a responsibility.
My rule is simple: install as few plugins as possible, and choose each one deliberately.
Start from the functions list
Before installing anything, I go back to the list of functions we wrote during planning: contact form, newsletter, shop, members area, multilingual content, SEO, caching, backups, security. For each function I look for one plugin that solves it well. If the host already provides caching or backups, I do not add a plugin for that.
This approach usually ends with somewhere between eight and fifteen plugins for a typical business site, which is a healthy number.
How I evaluate a plugin
I look at five signals. First, when it was last updated; a plugin without updates for a year is a risk. Second, the number of active installations, which indicates how widely it is tested. Third, the quality of reviews and support replies. Fourth, whether it is compatible with the current WordPress and PHP versions. Fifth, whether the developer has a clear business model, because a plugin that nobody earns money from is often abandoned.
I also read the changelog. A plugin that fixes security issues quickly and documents them clearly earns my trust; one that hides them does not.
Performance and overlap
Some plugins load scripts and styles on every page, even where they are not used. I test each plugin on staging and check how many extra files it adds and how it affects loading time. Page builders and all-in-one suites are the most common source of bloat; after a conversion to blocks they are rarely necessary.
Overlap is the other trap. Two SEO plugins, two caching plugins or two security plugins can conflict and cause strange behaviour. One per function is enough.
Plugins for converted features
Because backends are not converted, plugins are how most functionality returns. A good form plugin replaces cloud functions for contact forms. WooCommerce replaces shop logic. A membership plugin replaces login areas. A translation plugin handles multilingual content with proper hreflang. I configure each of these carefully and test real scenarios, such as a form submission arriving in the right mailbox.
Small differences from the original behaviour are normal. The goal is reliable functionality that the team can manage, not an exact copy of every detail.
Updates and maintenance
I enable automatic updates for minor releases of trusted plugins and test major updates on staging first. Once a month I review the plugin list and remove anything that is no longer used. Deactivated plugins should be deleted, not left on the server.
I document why each plugin is installed. When a new team member asks why a plugin exists, the answer is written down, which prevents both accidental removal and unnecessary additions.
Custom code versus plugins
Sometimes a small custom function in the theme or a tiny site-specific plugin is better than a large plugin used for one feature. For example, adding a custom post type or a small redirect rule needs only a few lines. I keep such code in a dedicated site plugin under version control, so it survives theme changes.
A lean plugin set makes a converted site faster, safer and easier to maintain. It is one of the quiet decisions that separates a professional migration from a fragile one.