The present work shows a version of the Rayleigh-Ritz method with specialized functions for the analysis of thin and thick circular and annular plates subjected to out-of-plane and in-plane loads. The approximation functions for displacements are polynomials in the radial direction combined with trigonometric functions in the circumferential direction. A convenient feature is the use of linear nodal functions, which allows for easy consideration of nodal loads and boundary conditions (including follower forces), enriched by higher order polynomials without inclusion of additional nodes. The model allows for thickness variation and was implemented in MAPLE18, enabling the calculation of displacements and stresses under constant and linearly varying load, frequencies of vibration, buckling loads with a few commands and the effect of the level of conservative and non-conservative on load the stability. The examples show the effectiveness of this approach in the analysis of such structures and bring new light to this classical problem, presenting interesting and novel comparisons illustrating the effect of shear deformation, in case of vibrations of the inertial rotations analysis and thickness variation in circular and annular plates, including displacements, moments and shear forces, vibration frequencies, buckling loads and a stability analysis of non-conservative tangential follower loads, using the dynamic criterion is performed.