What new WordPress plugins could we possibly expect to see in the months and years to come? We’ve reviewed 5 WordPress plugins still in Beta.
Plugin Name: Gutenberg
Plugin Author: Gutenberg Team
Compatible with: WP 4.8.3
Stars: 2.5
Active Installations: 3,000+
Description: The goal of the block editor is to make adding rich content to WordPress simple and enjoyable.
Sensus Media Review: Gutenberg has potential to take WordPress core functionality to the next level. A poor man’s version of Visual Composer, Gutenberg shows signs of opening sophisticated publishing capabilities to marketing managers with the most basic computer skills. The embed feature is the most useful to date, and Gutenberg has the potential to be the de facto core WYSIWYG editor.
Plugin Name: Dark Mode
Plugin Author: Daniel James
Compatible with: WP 4.8.3
Stars: N/A
Active Installations: 40+
Description: Using technology at night time can have a negative effect on your eyesight. Dark Mode will darken the colors of your admin dashboard making it easier for you to work at night time.
Sensus Media Review: For those who prefer a darker computer screen, you will like this plugin as it inverts the Admin dashboard. However, the vast majority of users will have not have a need for it. While it could become a core WordPress feature because it’s lightweight, we think it’s best for those who need it to manually add it. There’s a few CSS tweaks still needed, it does make the Admin area look much cooler, though.
Plugin Name: Two-Factor
Plugin Author: George Stephanis
Compatible with: WP 4.7.7
Stars: 5
Active Installations: 1,000+
Description: Enable Two-Factor Authentication using time-based one-time passwords (OTP, Google Authenticator), Universal 2nd Factor (FIDO U2F, YubiKey), email and backup verification codes.
Sensus Media Review: If your WordPress website isn’t secure in today’s online environment, you’re asking for trouble. While many two-factor authentication plugins already exist, this plugin provides multiple options to set-up two-factor. Furthermore, the installation and set-up are easy. With the right user adoption, it’s possible this plugin could be one of the more popular WordPress plugins.
Plugin Name: Core Media Widgets
Plugin Author: WordPress.org
Compatible with: WP 4.8.0
Stars: 5
Active Installations: 200+
Description: Feature plugin for introducing new core media widgets for images, audio, and video.
Sensus Media Review: Ok, this review is a bit of a cop out, but like it or not, you will be seeing the features of this plugin in your future WordPress versions. Just as the description says, you will now have widgets capable of displaying rich media. While not revolutionary, it will make displaying images, audio and video much easier.
Plugin Name: Background Image Cropper
Plugin Author: Nick Halsey
Compatible with: WP 4.8.3
Stars: 5
Active Installations: 400+
Description: This WordPress plugin is a WordPress core feature-plugin that adds cropping to background images for parity with header images.
Sensus Media Review: It’s difficult for us to have an opinion as the plugin didn’t work for us. There could be a number of reasons specific to our dev sites, but hey, that’s why it’s in beta. Hopefully, the UI becomes more usable and intuitive. We were especially looking forward to taking this plugin for a test drive.
