It is estimated around 1+ thousand million plugins were released by the year of 2016. Thanks to developments like the WordPress REST API, plugins of the CMS are about to change so much that they can now be considered a real breakthrough.
The rules are changing fast and it might be hard to navigate the complexity of today’s websites. For this reason, we decided to analyze WordPress trends, its plugins, and billion of searches from WP Plugin Directory, to identify the next big predictions in expanse.
Let’s gaze into the crystal ball…
#1 The Rise of Premium Plugins
Beyond of the continuously rising tendency for WordPress commercial themes, now we can also witness a huge, quite a healthy shift to premium WP plugins. In his Report, Scott Bolinger, has analyzed and formed up a compilation with the 2015 WordPress Business Revenue Statistics. To get a little extra insight in the field and to recognise several premium WP plugins in the list, click here.
Among the leading multi-million business dollar businesses are Gravity Forms and Yoast, WP Rocket.
#2 A Shift to WP REST API
This hottest topic has practically covered each and every post related to WordPress CMS lately. Though, as a strong fact, it makes sense. WordPress REST API is destined to completely revolutionize our understanding of what a plugin can be.
If you’re not willing to dig in a hole of technical posts and reviews related to the omnipresent topic, we would recommend to check out this brief video below.
And in the reversive case, if you’re looking forward to enhance your knowledge in the field, feel welcome to review some of our insights related to the field:
Is This WordPress in 10 Years? We Think So.
#3 Leading Plugins Might Switch to Mini-Platforms
As long as WordPress becomes a much wider and robust platform, it is quite natural to expect the same way of grow of WP plugins. Be ready to see individual plugins carving out their own mini-platforms in the nearest years and future.
This is the trend that Chris Lema has forecasted in the late 2013, but still it takes its place and remains to make sense until now and on.
#4 A True App Store on the Cards
In recent years, the premium plugins were available in basically two places:
- via the plugin developer’s own website
- through the dominant commercial plugin directory Code Canyon.
The launch of the Pro Directory back in 2015 was a great attempt to provide a bit more handy terms of tracking down quality premium plugins, though, unlucky it did not get quite the initial traction hoped for.
With the overall plugin market continuing to grow, we are looking around at likely candidates for making this happen, and the most obvious front-runner has to be Automattic.
#5 Plugin internationalisation
With its current 25% share of the overall market, WordPress is continuing its strides into the non-English speaking world. Since, English slowly loses its grip in the web world, it is the right time to conquer its non-Anglosphere part.
WordPress has long been keeping focus on internationalization and localization and following Matt Mullenweg words, this still near the top of the platform’s agenda.
Final Words
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