Finding Your Winning Path with so Many Paths to Choose

When creating digital spaces, finding the “right direction” can be both liberating and paralyzing. There are so many “right” places and paths, meaning that it’s beautifully in your hands to create your digital space – and yet, what-ifs about doing the “wrong” things are engrossing when staring at a blank expanse. That’s why, in some scenarios, starting with something pre-existing can help shape your vision and direction.

Plugins are the backbone of so much of our digital landscapes. They bridge a gap between what “from scratch” actually means, and what we often interpret and practice. Imagine I say that I’ve baked a cake from scratch. I put the ingredients together, but I didn’t source them, grind them, or purify them – I bought them! A plugin, as outlined in a great definition by Lenovo, is “a software component that adds specific functionality to an existing computer program or web browser.” Simply put, developers build plugins to allow digital spaces to do things they originally could not, acting as ingredients in a recipe. The scope can differ greatly: some plugins make computer programs more accessible by simply changing the program’s colors, while other plugins fully integrate massive computer platforms that previously were impossible to connect.

We consider it a huge win to incorporate plugins into the customization of our new Common Vision website platform. When creating, countless “right” paths pop up in every direction. Plugins, by providing the how, can help form the scaffolding for the what, where, and why with the rest of your uniquely and personally developed digital space.

written by Nia McKenney
May 2024