Open the plugins screen on an average WordPress site and you’ll find at least one “suite”: a plugin that does forms, popups, sliders, SEO, analytics and a bit of security, all from a dashboard that wants you to upgrade. They’re tempting. One install, one license, everything covered.
We’ve maintained enough of those sites to stop believing in that promise. Way of the Code exists to build the opposite: small plugins that each solve one problem cleanly. Here’s why.
Every feature has a cost, even the ones you don’t use
A plugin that does twenty things usually loads code for twenty things. Scripts and stylesheets end up on every page, database tables pile up, and the admin gets new menus you never asked for. Most of that weight serves features you’ll never switch on.
A focused plugin carries only what its one job needs. Our rule is simple: if a page doesn’t use the plugin, the plugin doesn’t touch that page.
Small code is easier to trust
When a plugin is a few thousand lines instead of a few hundred thousand, you can actually read it. You can see what it stores, what it sends and what it changes. That matters for security reviews, for client handovers, and for the developer who inherits the site in three years.
Updates stop being scary
Big plugins update often because there’s always something changing somewhere. Each update is a small gamble across features you rely on. A single-purpose plugin changes less, and when it does, the changelog tells you exactly what moved. You can update on a Tuesday afternoon without holding your breath.
You choose your stack
With focused tools, you combine the best option for each job instead of accepting the weakest part of a bundle. Like your form plugin but need React embeds? Add one small plugin, not a second suite that overlaps with the first.
What this means for our products
Every Way of the Code product follows the same principles:
- One clear job, written on the product page in one sentence
- Assets load only where they’re used
- No upsell banners, nag notices or dashboard takeovers
- Hooks and filters for developers who want to extend it
- Documentation and a changelog for every release
- Support answered by the person who wrote the code
Our first product, Shortcode Embed for React Apps, is a good example. It does exactly one thing: puts React apps on WordPress pages with a shortcode. No page builder, no form builder, no analytics. Just that, done properly.
If that sounds like how you’d like your plugins to behave, join the newsletter and we’ll let you know when the next one ships.