How to Brainstorm New WordPress Plugin Ideas

According to Ecclesiastes, there’s nothing new under the sun. That thought certainly hits home when you’re trying to come up with an idea for the next must-have WordPress plugin. With over 60,000 (free) plugins already in existence, it’s easy to feel like all the good ideas have already been taken.

Don’t despair, though — you know what else ol’ Ecclesiastes says? “What has been will be again; what has been done will be done again”. Find inspiration instead of discouragement in these timeless words. You’ve had great ideas before, and you will have them again!

In this article, we’ll share how you can generate ideas for in-demand new plugins by setting goals, focusing on trends, examining how existing solutions can be improved, and reflecting on your own experiences.

Let’s get going!

Think About What You’d Like to Achieve and Set Goals to Get There

We all want the same thing when we sit down to create a plugin: unheard-of success and piles of praise and riches.

Savvy developers who build a career out of creating new technology know that the success of a product doesn’t begin and end with an ingenious idea. In reality, the initial idea is just a small part of the process.

Before you try to imagine what you want to create, think about what you want to achieve.

It’s safe to assume that most developers want to create a popular plugin that generates a healthy number of sales. Alongside that obvious goal, you may also want to challenge yourself technically and create something novel that you can be proud of. Or maybe service a large yet niche market by creating something truly innovative that solves a very specific pain point.

Begin by writing down the personal goals that will make creating your new plugin personally fulfilling. By starting with the goal of developing something that can give you a true sense of accomplishment, you ensure you’ll be dedicated to and passionate about seeing the project through to completion and ready to do your best work.

The success of your plugin doesn’t come from thinking up a great idea. It comes from following through with the entire process. Brainstorming is an important first step, so let’s get to all the ways you can find inspiration.

Research Current Trends to Help you Generate New Plugin Ideas

Make sure you’re regularly immersing yourself in the culture of your audience and potential clients by following popular tech blogs. For example:

• Mashable
• Gizmodo
• GigaOM
• ZDNet
• TechCrunch
• How-To Geek
• The Next Web and more.

From news on cybersecurity and AI to blog tips on SEO and caching, tech stories reflect what’s on users’ minds and tells you what might be a priority in the future. This research is essential in keeping you up-to-date with trends and helping you think like your end user.

Have a look at currently popular plugins and examine what they’re trying to achieve. For example, spam-reduction plugins offer increased security and more trustworthy, authentic content. SEO plugins help users find an audience.

Are there other ways that you could help users achieve these basic goals?

Always keep an eye on emerging technology. Use Alexa often to see what users are researching, reading, and watching online and to monitor which new sites and services are growing in popularity.

When you examine popular plugins, you can often trace their origins back to a role in making new technology more easily adaptable.

For example, the increased popularity of smartphones and tablets resulted in plugins to help format WordPress content especially for mobile. Facebook gave rise to the increased popularity of social sharing plugins. X helped created a demand for link-shorteners. Demand for on-site review solutions led to the creation of our very own Rating-Widget plugin.

Ask yourself what new service is currently emerging and what kinds of plugins you could create to make that service easier for users.

At the same time that you’re dreaming about piggybacking on the next X, it’s crucial that you realistically evaluate potential market share. If you think that your plugin will only be valuable to 100 people, developing a commercial plugin is likely to be a waste of time.

By staying in touch with tech news, you’ll be better able to tell the next Periscope from the next Meerkat and make sure you’re backing the right horse.

Research Existing Products to See How They Can Be Improved

The WordPress.com ideas forum should be your online second home. Get comfy here and hang out to find what users want, what they value, and what isn’t currently working for them.

This type of info can spark an idea for a related plugin and help you better understand the goals of users. Keep your users in mind and you’ll be ready to design a new plugin to help them meet their goals.

You’ll also find inspiration by analyzing what’s currently at the top of WordPress’ popular plugin directory. Read the plugin reviews to learn where users are having trouble with existing products. Is there a way that you can design a fix for these in your new plugin?

Even if you don’t agree with users’ evaluation of these plugins, you’ll be in a better position to understand how they use the plugin, what they expect from it and where it falls short.

And here’s an example. Superhuman is not just another email client that resembles Gmail. It was actually built with the goal to overcome the biggest flaw Gmail had — slowness.

Rahul Vohra, Superhuman CEO and founder, focused on providing more speed, shortcuts, and automation — everything people complained about Gmail lacking. Listening to Gmail users (and being one himself!) helped him identify product gaps and find a perfect, new market fit for those who wanted to take their productivity to the next level.

By researching the existing solutions and monitoring what users are saying about it, you can uncover missing features or ones that can be improved — and give your potential customers exactly what they’re asking for.

Research Underserved Niches

When we think of niches, it’s easy to focus on the big fish in the pond – e-commerce, blogging, and corporate websites. But there’s a whole ocean of smaller, specialized markets waiting for your attention — and they may be underserved.