Okay, I know, I know. Everybody does this. I’ve read blogs on the 3 essential plug-ins, and 57 essential plug-ins. Personally, I feel there are more then three, to be sure. I also think that fifty seven is probably a bit on the high-side. 57 useful WordPress plug-ins, I would take, but essential?
So, to add the sound of my keyboard clacking to the cacophony, here goes.
First off, the usual preamble: This is for people running installs of the World Famous WordPress Blogging Platform. This is not for people who have a myblogname.wordpress.com blog. Okay? If you have a myblogname.wordpress.com blog, and you are interested in migrating to your own set-up, go figure that out, then come here and I’ll tell you all about the sexy wonderful things you’ve got access to now.
So, here’s the deal, no particular order, just the order I think you should prioritize them (as in, the first one is “totally super useful and you might as well go back to your myblogname.wordpress.com if you don’t use it”, through to “this is a cool plug-in, but is not for everybody”). I don’t claim to have “discovered” any of these myself, I’m just culling all those blogs on your behalf (thankful?):
1. WP Spam-Free
A great plug-in to keep your blog vegetarian. My blog is still fairly young and low-key, but WP Spam-Free has already blocked 340 spam comments. I don’t know much about the technical side of it, but I know it works. You would be foolish not to use it, or something like it.
http://www.polepositionmarketing.com/library/wp-spamfree/
2. WP Security-Scan
A cool plug-in that adds a security scan for known weaknesses. If you’ve really done your homework, you probably don’t need this, but seriously, even if you have, your clients probably haven’t, and it’s quite comforting seeing a bunch of green “safe” lines in the report. The best part, not only does it tell you if there is a problem, but it provides you a link to the solution.
3. All-in-one SEO
Also by Semper Fi (see above), this is a great SEO package. If you never want fresh faces around your blog, STAY AWAY. If, however, you are interested in seeing traffic come in from Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc, you’ll want to fire this up. A great simple plug-in that works well.
4. Google XML Sitemaps Generator
If you don’t know why you need a Google XML sitemap, go to Google and search SEO. Or Search Engine Optimization. In a few hours or weeks, when you’re done, come back here and believe me, you need this plug-in. You can set how often you want it to rescan and recreate the file, where to scan and even configure how thorough it is. If you’re unsure, the defaults work well. If you need a bit more control, it’s there.
http://www.arnebrachhold.de/projects/wordpress-plugins/google-xml-sitemaps-generator/
5. Google Analytics for WordPress
Assuming you’re still reading and agreeing, now you’ll need this, to measure how well the above two plug-ins are working. You’ll also need a Google account and an Analytics account number (or more specifically, your client will). If you’re not already using GA heavily in assessing the effectiveness of your SEO efforts and marketing, give your head a shake, and get on it. This plug-in is pretty simple; it allows you to drop in your number and you’re off to the races. No bothering adding code to your template. So easy an adult could do it.
6. Sociable
This is one of those things that is so damn obvious, and yet you see blogs that *still* don’t have social bookmarking links. Even if you don’t use the variety of tools available for you to promote yourself (by the way, it’s time. Get on it, okay?), you will generate hits by providing your users with an easy way for them to share your thought-provoking prose and scathing wit across their networks. Think about this, by just providing a link for Twitter, many of your users will click it, and post a link on their Twitter, which automatically adds a post in their blog and also in their Facebook status. Hey-presto, you’ve just generated three links with one click of a mouse. Sociable happens to be a very thorough social bookmarking tool. Easy to configure, just be careful. There is such a thing as too many options. Many of the bookmarking options provided are very niche specific. Twitter, Facebook, .rss, LinkedIn, del.ici.ous, Digg and StumbledUpon are all good starting points.
7. Twitter for WordPress
Remember when I mentioned above that users can set-up so that their Twitter updates automatically become blog posts? If you’re not already doing that, here’s how. Pretty straight-forward. Use this, and link to related blogs lots. This is an easy way to see big traffic increases.
http://rick.jinlabs.com/code/twitter/
8. Mobilepress
Got a really killer sexy flashy theme for your blog? Ever look at it on a Blackberry, iPhone or mobile phone. Bet it wasn’t so sexy anymore. Just kind of busy. Here’s your solution. An out-of-the-box mobile browser detection script and theme for your blog. Totally customizable. Get it, use it. Your hand-held users will thank you.
9. Contact Form 7
This is a funny old one. It’s so simple. It’s just a customizable contact form. The usual name/email/subject/message. But you can do so much with it. Now, if I’m building a Joomla! site for a client and they are having a WordPress blog run seamlessly next to it, I”ll use the WP contact 7 plug-in for their site’s contact. This interface is *way* better then most out there. Love it.
10. Subscribe to comments
Does what it says on the box. Adds a tick-box for a user posting a comment on your blog with the option to be notified of new comments on the post. Seems pretty obvious, right? So use it.
http://txfx.net/wordpress-plugins/subscribe-to-comments/
11. Widget Context
A neat little plug-in that lets you define, widget by widget, specifically which pages the widget in question will appear on. Very handy for advertising widgets.
http://www.wordpress.org/extend/plugins/widget-context/
12. Breukie’s Categories
If you know WordPress, you know what your categories are. Breukie’s Categories is just a far better interface then what WordPress comes with. Certainly not necessary, but empowering when used correctly.
http://www.arnoldbreukhoven.nl/2007/05/breukies-categories-widget-for-wordpress/
And just like when you were a kid (or earlier today, for my younger readers), here’s the prize in the cereal box:
Skeleton Template.
I used to take an existing template/theme, and just strip it down, change some stuff, add some stuff, and call it new. This could lead to problems in a variety of ways. Then I learned about the killer skeleton template for Joomla!, by Sir Waseem Sadiq. Life Changing. Turns out there’s skeleton templates for pretty well every CMS, you’ve just got to poke around and find the one that fits you well. I’m currently a fan of the one from ThemeHybrid. Get it here:
So go, pimp your blog out with all the bells and whistles you want, just make sure these are some of them okay? And please, share in the comments which plug-ins you’ve found to be the most useful or essential.
One Comment
Hey – I am really happy to discover this. great job!