@oldtrog “I have to say that I find it frustrating that everytime a plugin does not work I am told it is a conflict with another plugin. The implication is the other plugin does not work.”
Yes frustrating indeed, I share the same, but what you’re implying is technically impossible to avoid as it’s the nature of any plug-able system which has millions of plugins written by millions of individuals of many different caliber and experience, language and geographic distances, etc…you get the idea I hope =)
As long as we have the freedom to write our own code, any way we see fit, this problem will exist. Not everyone uses the same methods and often there is no right or wrong way to do something.
The implication when someones says it’s “likely a plugin conflict” is just that. A conflict.
It’s not always to point blame even though yes, some people choose to do that and sometimes indeed it’s due.
However, more often it’s not one plugin developer’s fault over the other and the fix is just as likely to be polar as well in which whoever addresses it first likely gets the job done.
They key focus of this community is to help each other find and fix these things. This is why we suggest methods to determine where the conflict is such as disabling plugins/themes temporarily.
“What am I going to do if I find it clashes with a plugin that I use everywhere?”
Take care in how you perform your updates. Prepare backups for roll backs if needed.
This is by design of free open source software that allows community driven advancements, if you don’t like it, check out Wix, Weebly or Squarespace where you CAN point blame when something doesn’t work because THEY are the only ones writing the software =)