We have certain rights as consumers and, by and large, we exercise those rights. If I buy something I have certain expectations of my purchase. First and foremost, I expect it to work as advertised. If it’s a toaster, I expect it to make toast. If I bought a 4 slice toaster, I expect that it will toast four pieces of bread at the same time and that all the bread will be evenly toasted. Anything that is counter to my expectations will lead to disappointment, frustration, etc. I will pack the toaster back in its box, grab the receipt, and take it back to the store from whence it came.

Gifts, especially handmade ones, fall under a different set of behavioral expectations. If my Aunt Tilly brings me a jar of homemade jam that tastes like a combination of laundry detergent and burnt rubber, I will smile politely, thank her profusely, and jettison the jam soon after she has departed. I will not complain to Aunt Tilly, nor will I return the offending jam and ask her for a replacement jar. She gave me a gift, I didn’t like it, end of story.

Which brings me to plugins. The open source aspect of WordPress has inspired a whole group of creative and dedicated programmers to develop software solutions that improve the functionality of the WordPress blogging platform. Because of their plugins, my WordPress blog has all of the features that I want it to have.
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