WordPress Plug-Ins

This is my cheat sheet of WordPress plug-ins I use on client sites.  There are thousands of plug-ins at WordPress.org which makes it hard to decide which plug-ins are best to use.

Choose plug-ins that are well used and continue to be maintained.  Some clues to a good plug-in are

  • Has a “Last Updated” date within the last three months
  • Is one of the more popular plug-ins in it’s category tag
  • Has a download count over a thousand (bare minimum)
  • In the Compatibility Section of the plug-in details, people have stated it works for the latest WordPress version.
  • Documentation exists and there is a plug-in site.

Another tip: Don’t always avoid the commercial or pro license plug-ins.  These tend to have more functionality than the free ones and are actively supported.  If you purchase a commercial plug-in, make sure there is a money back guarantee in case it doesn’t have the features you want.

Administrative

iThemes Backup Buddy*
A commercial WordPress plug-in for backing up your site by iTheme. (Affiliate link)
EZ Backup
Free WordPress plug-in that backs up your website
Custom Admin Branding
A free WordPress plug-in that will replace the standard WordPress logo and colors with the company’s logo and colors
WordPress.com Stats
Free WordPress plug-in that allows you to track and see visitors’ statistics within your own blog.
Foliopress Editor
A free WordPress plug-in that replaces the built-in editor. It has advanced buttons such as tables and font family.
ServerBuddy
A free WordPress plug-in by iThemes that tests your WordPress Installation and Host Settings.
ThemeMan
A free WordPress plug-in by iTheme that allows administrators to preview other themes on their site.

Search Engine Optimization

Google Sitemap Generator
Free WordPress plug-in that automatically updates the site’s XML sitemap for all major search engines when you post or add a page.
FV All-In-One SEO
Free WordPress plug-in that allows you to add a page title and description used in Search Engine results. It is a simplified version of All-In-One SEO
All-In-One SEO
Free WordPress Plug-In that allows you to add a post/page title, description, keywords and other attributes for search engine optimization. It also allows you to add a menu name different from the page title.

Site Navigation

Flexi Page Widget
Choose which page links to show on the sidebar. Show just the subpages.
Exclude Pages
Adds checkbox to page editor that allows to show or hide the page from the web site navigation. Not updated in a while but works.
AVH Extended Categories
A WordPress widget that allows you to choose the categories you want to display in your sidebar.
Enhanced Recent Post
A WordPress widget that allows you to choose which categories to show Recent Posts from in your sidebar. Plug-in has not been updated in a while, but works fine in the current version.

Enhanced Posts

Post Mash
A WordPress plug-in that allows you to display post in any order.
Post Expirator
A plug-in that allows you to set a future expiration date. The post or page is either deleted or set to draft depending on your settings.
Feed WordPress
A plug-in that will automatically syndicate other site’s RSS feeds on your site.

Email Notification

I recommend using an e-mail marketing service like AWeber (checks your RSS feed every 1-2 hours) instead of a WordPress plug-in because of the improved statistics and you can use it for other e-mail marketing campaigns. It also does not cause conflicts to shared hosting agreements once your list exceeds a certain size.

Feedburner
Not a plug-in. This Google service allows you to not only collect statistics on RSS Subscribers, but you can setup a free e-mail notification service visitors can subscribe to.
MailPress
Visitors may subscribe to e-mail notifications of all or some of your post categories. You can brand the e-mails to match your site and send e-mail blasts from your site.

Event Management

WP Events
A simple Event Management plug-in that allows you to display upcoming events in a widget sidebar or a separate page. BEST PRACTICE: Use a post, EventBrite, etc. to publish the details and link to the page or post within WP Events.

Forms and Surveys

Contact 7
A versatile WordPress plug-in that allows you to create a variety of forms such as a contact form, survey, request form, etc. The results are emailed to the configured email address.
Formidable Forms
(Commercial) A fabulous form/survey builder that allows you to create complex forms, track results, give users access to the survey for editing or the results, etc.

Member Sites & Online Communities

Wishlist Member*
A commercial WordPress plug-in that allows you to created a paid membership sites, protected download areas, e-courses delivered over a period of time, etc. It integrates with Paypal, 1ShoppingCart, AWeber, and other services.
Simple:Press Forum
A free, full featured forum with profile, member directory and such for WordPress. NOTE: It does not display the Member Directory publicly.
BuddyPress
A social networking WordPress plug-in that allows subscribers to setup a profile, have discussions (add-on), and post statuses. The member directory can be publicly displayed.