Table of Contents
- What the hell are plugins?
- How to spot a good plugin
- Free plugins can be…
- OK free plugins can be awesome too, if…
- If you pay for a plugin (or theme)
- Backup plugins
- SEO plugins
- eCommerce plugins
- Security plugins
- Images plugins
- Training and support plugins
- Content plugins
- Form plugins
- Caching plugins
- Search plugins
- Live chat plugins
- Event plugins
- Social media plugins
- Dashboard customisation plugins
- Membership plugins
- User Management plugins
- Custom post types plugins
- Widget plugins
- Developer back-end plugins
- Calculator and quiz plugins
The whole plugin spectacular presentation from WordCamp Sydney 2012 by Tony Cosentino.
What the hell are plugins?
- accessories to add to your vehicle
- php/javascript injection for dummies
- written by people smarter than me
- I have ADPHPD (Attention deficit php disorder)
- I also like wheels other people make, why re-invent them
How to spot a good plugin
How to choose a good WordPress plugin
Free plugins can be…
- free to stop being updated
- free to brake for extended periods of time
- free from developer contact information (sometimes anyway – I’m being dramatic ok)
- free to go offline when the developer gets over of at all the whining from internet marketers wanting it fixed yesterday for nada
OK free plugins can be awesome too, if…
- the have a large benevolent company behind them
- are a loss leader for a paid version
- connect you to a commercial 3rd party product (eg sales force form)
- are supported by a Buddhist monk who is hoping to attain enlightenment through perfect code and self sacrifice
(Nothing against that Buddhists either, they rock)
If you pay for a plugin (or theme)
- you are supporting WordPress developer/s who will then maintain the very plugin that is making you look great
- inspiring more plugins to be built
- subsidising the support system
- putting people through college/uni
Backup plugins
- vaultpress (premium – vaultpress.com – $15/month)
- backupbuddy (premium – pluginbuddy.com – $75/year for 2 site licence, $100/year for 10 sites, $150/year unlimited sites)
- BackUpWordPress (free – wordpress.org)
SEO plugins
- WordPress SEO by Yoast
- SEO Ultimate
- SEO Rank Tracker
- 404 Redirection – divert all 404 error to main page, improves user experience and improves google rank for home page
- SEOPressor (premium – http://seopressor.com – $97)
- Analytics360 – Google and mailchimps lovechild
eCommerce plugins
- WooCommerce (the new up and comer)
- WP Shopp (premium – http://shoppplugin.net )
- WP eCommerce (the original)
- Ecwid Shopping Cart (use with facebook too)
Security plugins
- Limit login attempts
- Firewall 2
- Block Spam By Math Reloaded
- WordPress file monitor
- wp-ban
- Timthumb Vulnerability Scanner
Images plugins
- Lightbox Plus (popups instead of a blank page)
- NextGEN Gallery
Training and support plugins
- Video User Manuals ($24/month on unlimited client sites)
- WP Help
Content plugins
- Organize Series
- Shortcodes Ultimate
- TinyMCE Advanced
- WP-chgFontSize
- YARP Yet another related post
- Duplicate Post
- Easy Content TemplatesReplace Featured Image with Video
Form plugins
- Gravity forms (premium – http://gravityforms.com -
Caching plugins
- WP Super Cache
- W3 Total Cache
Search plugins
- Search Everything
- Relevanssi – A Better Search
- Google Custom Search
Live chat plugins
- Zopim Live Chat
- ClickDesk Live-Chat, Help Desk & Live-Call
Event plugins
- Event espresso (premium)
- All-in-One Event Calendar
- CalPress Event Calendar
Social media plugins
- The social links
- facebook (not perfect, still needs to work)
- Simple Facebook Share Button
- jetpack
Dashboard customisation plugins
- Whitelabel CMS
- Adminize
- TM Replace Howdy
Membership plugins
- S2Member
- S2Member Pro (premium)
User Management plugins
- Import Users from CSV (import a lot of users from one spreadsheet)
- User Switching
- QuickLogin (popups for login pages so you need to leave the page you are on)
Custom post types plugins
- My Content Management (collection of custom post types pre built, eg faqs, people, testimonials, locations, quotes, glossary, etc)
- CustomPress (premium – http://premium.wpmudev.org/project/custompress )
Widget plugins
- Widget logic
- Spectacu.la Page Widget
- WP-Cumulus
- Widgets on pages (add javascript to a page via shortcode that won’t dissapear)
- Executable PHP widget
- Custom sidebars
- Widget Entries (use with Custom sidebars)
- Duplicate Widget (Ditto)
- PHP Code Widget
Developer back-end plugins
- Friends Only
- Revision control
- Velvet Blues Update URLs
- Page and Post Lister
- Redirection
Calculator and quiz plugins
- CalculatorPro Calculators – (204 different calculators)
- WP Survey And Quiz Tool
Howdy superb blog! Does running a blog similar to this require a lot of work?
I have very little expertise in programming however I had been hoping to start my own blog soon.
Anyhow, should you have any ideas or tips for new blog owners please share.
I understand this is off subject but I simply wanted to ask.
Many thanks!
Hi Loretta,
There is a bit of work to do, keeping the software/plugins up to date and coming up with new content on a regular basis is the key to success.
All the best.