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[…] Mark Ghosh asked on WebBlogTools what 5 plugins I use in every wordpress install. […]
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About the Author
- Mark Ghosh
An avid fan of business, education, technology and finance. I lead a lean, highly focussed and capable team of Java Back End developers and Front End developers through a maze of complex software wizardry to fulfill the web maintenance needs of a large chemical manufacturer. As per Myers-Briggs Personality Types, I am an ESTJ. I pride in a project completed on time and according to plan. My hobbies include all kinds of technology, anything that I can taste and anything that goes fast or flies in the air. I like to read business books and comics in my spare time.
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Obviously Powered by WordPress. © 2003-2013
* Akismet
* WP-DBManager
* Google XML Sitemaps
* Google Analytics for WordPress
* WP Super Cache
* WP Minify
That’s 6, I know, but I almost never launch a site without those 6.
* Add to Any Share Button, to provide an easy way for readers to share their favorite posts and pages.
* Add to Any Subscribe Button, to provide an easy way for readers to subscribe to the blog.
* Akismet, the front line of any blog’s anti-spam defenses.
* Better Feed, to add a copyright notice, as well as other useful features, to the blog’s feed.
* Google XML Sitemaps, to create an XML Sitemap of the blog.
It really depends on on the specific site, but here are the ones I generally go with:
Akismet
W3 Total Cache
Google Analytics for WordPress
Google XML Sitemaps
Theme My Login
For a Multisite Install:
– The Post Indexer and Comment Indexer plugins
– So that I can show recent global posts and recent global comments via widgets (nothing turns on new bloggers than seeing their stuff listed on the front!)
– On that same front the users directory plugin is an alltime favorite
– As is global site tags (also runs off the post indexer)
– And last, but not least, Easy blogging and Easy blogging tooltips – so that users don’t get scared off by the WP admin interface and get some help in there too.
Those are the main kinda things that got Edublogs up and running and also that Edublogs Campus users ask for allll the time.
Well, I will sound like a broken record…
WP-DBManager
Google XML Sitemaps
Google Analytics for WordPress (depending on the theme and it’s options)
WP Super Cache
All in one SEO (if their theme doesn’t have SEO options)
and, of course, others, depending on their needs…
I use many of the same plugins already mentioned, so I thought I’d only mention plugins that no one else has mentioned yet:
* Custom Field Template
http://wordpress.org/extend/pl.....-template/
This lets you add pre-defined custom fields to the edit Page and edit Post screens. This works with custom post types, as well.
* Gravity Forms
http://www.gravityforms.com/
For forms that are a little bit more complicated than a simple contact form.
* WP-Mail-SMTP
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-mail-smtp/
This plugin lets you change the From name and email address of WordPress-generated emails. It also lets you use SMTP to send them instead of mail().
* KB Advanced RSS Widget
http://wordpress.org/extend/pl.....ss-widget/
This plugin gives you a widget for displaying content from any RSS feed; it gives you complete control over how the content is displayed. This is the best way to include Facebook or Twitter content on a WordPress web site.
* Custom Functions
I write a custom plugin for every site I build called “Custom Functions.” I register custom post types, remove the capital_P_dangit filters, and perform a number of other actions there. I prefer to have a plugin for these instead of the functions.php file so that custom post types don’t disappear when I change the theme.
Akismet
All In One SEO
Google XML Sitemap Generator
Google Analytics For WordPress
Contact Form 7
I think they’re all relatively self-explanatory. Every blog should have a contact page and all too often they don’t – Contact Form 7 makes it so easy
These are my most used plugins.
*Akismet
*Google XML Sitemaps
*Google Analytics for WordPress
*WP Super Cache
*All in one SEO
My all time favorite list is here:
* Akismet
* WP Super Cache
* Google XML Sitemaps
* Google Analytics for WordPress
* All in one SEO
My top 5 are…
* Youtube Embed# (embed YouTube videos easily in your posts)
* WP Smush.it (automatically compress uploaded images without losing quality)
* Simple Content Reveal# (collapse and head sections of your blog)
* Simple Draft List# (list drafts that you’re working on as well as future timed posts)
* WP-Footnotes (easily show footnotes in your posts)
An eclectic mix, I’ll admit. And those with the # next to them are plugins that I’ve written (I only write those I find useful, so they’re bound to be in my list!).
#1 is built into WordPress.
http://codex.wordpress.org/Embeds
That’s generic embedding – not quite as simple as supplying a YouTube video ID and having a full configured video player displayed as a result
Akismet
Shadowbox JS
Subscribe 2
Post Tabs
WP-DBManager
That will be:
Google XML Sitemaps
W3 Total Cache
Akismet
All in one SEO
Subscribe 2
* Akismet
* WP Super Cache
* Google XML Sitemaps
* All in one SEO
* WP Minify
1. All in one SEO
2. WP Super Cache (Mostly at high-traffic sites)
3. Google XML Sitemaps
4. Advertising Manager
5. Executable PHP widget
6. WP Smush.it
Google XML Sitemaps
Akismet
cbnet Ping Optimizer
SEO Ultimate
YARPP Related Posts
* Akismet
* WordPress Database Backup
* Google XML Sitemaps
* Limit Login Attempts
The 5th one really depends on the site. I use TwitterTools quite a lot but lately have been working with Pods quite often as well. And although this can be done easily within the function.php file YARPP is a popular one as well for my sites.
Being relatively a newbie to this whole web development malarky, I’ve noticed myself using the following (at least from now on):
WPtouch: http://www.bravenewcode.com/products/wptouch-pro/
Piece of pie to make your site mobile compatible
Su.pr: http://su.pr.com
StumbleUpon, Twitter and Facebook sharing tool. Love it!
Akismet: http://akismet.com/
Spam sorter. A Must-Have!
WP Super Cache: http://wordpress.org/extend/pl.....per-cache/
Of course.
ShareThis: http://sharethis.com
However, if ShareThis pulled their finger out, their images could be so much better. I’m awaiting images from Digg and Stumble to be included in the latest update, if not, then I’ll use the buttons or badges individually which will end up being a small pain. But, it’s the whole style package that I like. A convenient sharing tool.
Would appreciate recommendations on what to have as well.
Mini Meta widget is probably the only one across all the blogs..
SI captcha anti-spam is taking over most of them now
I prob should add
limit login attempts, theme my login
and
Post teaser – I LOVE the way I can customize the “read more” with post title, and so does gogole
to all my blogs.
SEO:
HeadSpace2M
Google XML Sitemap Generator
Google Analytics For WordPress
CMS:
TS Custom Widgets
Contact Form 7
Social Media:
SexyBookmarks
Twitter Tools
* Akismet
* WP-DBManager
* Google XML Sitemaps
* WP Super Cache
* Add to Any Share Button
* All in one SEO
- After The Deadline (style/spelling/grammar checker)
– Broken Link Checker Pro (checks your blog for broken links and missing images and notifies you on the dashboard if any are found
– Google XML Sitemap for Images (self-explanatory…. sitemap for images)
– WP Minify (compress JS and CSS files to improve page load time)
– WP YouTube Lyte (Light YouTube embed without Flash embed in posts for faster page load… this is awesome)
… and I also use many of the ones others mentioned before me: Akismet, Google XML Sitemap, WP-DBManager, All in one SEO, GravatarLocalCache (for caching gravatar images)
So actually, that’s my TOP 10 instead of 5.
- Akismet
– All in One SEO Pack
– Google XML Sitemaps
– WP Super Cache
– Subscribe To Comments
At WordCamp Birmingham, I made a comment to the effect that I run 63 plugins on my sites. While that’s true, it’s misleading, as several of them (notably my own Simple Facebook/Twitter Connect) are multi-plugin systems. If you eliminate that, it goes down to 36, which is still quite a lot.
So, here’s the list of plugins that I am currently using:
After The Deadline
After The Deadline for Comments
Akismet
Atom Default Feed
Changelogger
Cookies for Comments
Enable oEmbed Discovery
Google MP3 Player
Gravatar Box
Limit Login Attempts
Log Deprecated Notices
MediaRSS (mods by Otto)
Otto’s Google Buzz Button
Plugin Info
PuSHPress
Reveal IDs for WP Admin
Revision Control
RSS Cloud
Search Regex
Simple Facebook Connect
Simple Trackback Validation
Simple Twitter Connect
SiteInfo
Subscribe To Comments
SyntaxHighlighter Evolved
Use Google Libraries
VaultPress
Woopra
WordPress.com Stats
WordPress Admin Bar
WordPress Beta Tester
WP-Microsummary
WP Paypal Donate Widget R2.0
WP Super Cache
XML Sitemap Feed
YOURLS: WordPress to Twitter
I tend to automatically install and use:
Akismet
All in One SEO
Section Widget
Mappress
Thumbnail Viewer
WP Super Cache is the only one I always use regardless of what site I am building. Besides that I don’t really have a list of “must have” plugins…
WP-DBManager
Akismet
Subscribe 2
Page Links To
Login Lockdown
WP Stats
WP Firewall
WP File Monitor
Fast Secure Contact Form
Akismet – spam prevention
All In One SEO Pack – search engine optimization
TinyMCE Advanced – better visual post editor tools
After the Deadline – spelling, style, and grammar checker
Your choice of sharing plugin – AddToAny, Share This, ShareDaddy
I don’t use any caching plugins as I cache all my sites using a custom nginx build.
My favourites:
– Contact7
– All in one SEO
– Feedburner
Akismet
Update Notifier
Google XML Sitemaps
Contact Form 7 or Fast Secure Contact Form
Secure WordPress
Explanation – I love Update Notifier because I don’t login to client sites that much, so emails when there are updates reminds me to update plugins or core. Secure WordPress let’s me remove some things I don’t want users/non-maintainers to see. The others are pretty self-explanatory.
One thing I wish for WP, not a plugin but a reality, is when I click external links from my Dashboard such as to Weblog Tools it automatically opens in a new Tab. That would be cool, but if at least a plugin exists to do so, please let me know what it’s called.
1 – W3 Total Cache
2 – WP Overview (lite)
3 – Google XML Sitemaps
4 – Platinum SEO Pack
5 – WP-PageNavi
Others:
– 404 Notifier
– FD Feedburner Plugin
– Ozh’ Better Feed
– MaxBlogPress Ping Optimizer
– Google Analyticator
– Disable WordPress Updates
– Custom Functions
I see that I’m an amateur among sophisticates, and reading these comments has been abig education. My list:
Akissmet – but I don’t think of Akismet as something one adds – it’s a bssic part of any safe setup. So I’ll list five others:
Insights | Prelovac.com
Footnotes by Simon Elvery:
WP-Footnotes (a plugin for WordPress) – sw’as
Time Release by Erigami Scholey-Fuller:
WordPress › Time Release « WordPress Plugins
MiniPosts, also by Erigami Scholey-Fuller
WordPress › Miniposts « WordPress Plugins
I use others, but these are the ones I install at the beginning, right after Akismet, but the list will change/expand if and when I finally get some understanding of SEO, social media, etc.
I use some that noone else has mentioned yet:
– WP Review Site
– WordPress Hashcash
– Safe Signup Form
– wp-cache
And on my other site:
Featuring CountComments
Insensitive
Login Logger
MaxBlogPress Ping Optimizer
Ozh’s IP To Nation
Sidebar Login
Simple Trackback Validation
wp-cache
WP-UserOnline
WP-PingPreserver
My basic pack is:
– cforms
– Disable Revisions
– Easy Add Thumbnail
– Google Analyticator
– Google XML Sitemaps
– NoSpamNX
– Ozh’ Admin Drop Down Menu
– Shorten2Ping
– WordPress.com Stats
Because I run mostly CMS sites I use the following on almost all:
* WP-DBManager
* WordPress.com Stats
* Google XML Sitemaps
* a sticky post order
* headspace 2
* nextgen gallery
* I’m in Mexico so I also use WPML a lot and I would love to be able to use a cache plugin but none seem to work well with WPML.
The very first plugin I always install is:
FLUENCY ADMIN skin by Dean Robinson
http://deanjrobinson.com/projects/fluency-admin/
Then it’s depending on the needs. Before finally deciding, I do quite a bit of research reading through reviews about people’s experience of a plugin they used. I’ll also install a few different ones to test them in real-time on the very site I’m creating.
Comment Reply Notification (http://fairyfish.net/2008/11/0.....ification/) the MOST important plug-in I have ever used!
It notifies commenters when THEIR specific comment has a reply.. it keeps bringing users back to your site. My site has 181,000 comments because of it!
The functionality should be built into WordPress.. it’s built into Buddypress so I’m hoping they add it to WordPress eventually. It’s not a “Subscribe to Comments” plugin which notifies you of ever comment on a post, which is not good when your posts get 200-300 comments each.
I sometimes try even other plugins but there are two that I use everytime: “All in One SEO Pack” and “Google XML Sitemaps”. I probably wouldn’t be able to live without them
==============
Marina Orlova (1 comments.) says:
9/25/2010 at 3:30 pm
Comment Reply Notification (http://fairyfish.net/2008/11/0…..ification/) the MOST important plug-in I have ever used!
=============
Thanks for the tip, Marina!!!!
Re-CAPTCHA, All in One SEO Pack, WP-page navi, WP-DBManager…
For social networks, I’d copy-paste the scripts from the providers… Thanks…
My list:
1-click Retweet/Share/Like
AdRotate
All in One SEO Pack
Contact Form 7
Google Analyticator
Quick Adsense
Secure WordPress
SexyBookmarks
User Locker
Widget Context
WP-reCAPTCHA
WP Security Scan
Simple Facebook Connect
Simple Twitter Connect
Akismet – the best spam blocker for your blog that there is.
Google Analyticator –to keep track of the traffic going to my blog.
Platinum SEO Pack – to help you with the search engines.
Popular Posts – This puts a sidebar widget on your blog that lists your most popular posts. The search engines like to see you linking around your site
CommentLuv – promotes commenting on your blog. CommentLuv allows people that comment to get a link back to their latest blog post. Other bloggers love backlinks and this is an incentive to comment.
My Top 5 are:
Akismet
WP PageNavi
WP Captha
WP Super Cache
Google XML SiteMaps
I have a couple of others that tend to be on most sites, but those are the ones that I would not live without.
Akismet – protects me from 100s of spam every day or so.
Comment Timeout – Closes off old entries.
Do follow – removes nofollows.
Subscribe to comments – exactly what it says.
WP Ajax Edit Comments – as it says.
Each useful in their own way.
My must-install plugins:
* All In One SEO Pack
* Breadcrumb
* W3 Total Cache/Wp Super Cache
* YARPP
* Static random post widget
That’s all
For me it’s always the same starting point: Google Analyticator, SEO sitemaps and a plugin I wrote myself that adds tags as keywords for some basic SEO.
Akismet, w3 total cache, subscribe to comments, contact form 7 and wordpress backup