For those who use the self-hosted version of WordPress (over at WordPress.org), there is a plethora of plugins to explore and install to customize your copy of this open source blogging/content giant.
As with most popular platforms, there are good, bad and horrible plugins. Weeding through the seemingly endless assortment is daunting.
So to alleviate some of this pain, I’ve compiled some of my favorites.
None of them have links to where you can find them for one simple reason, with the current version of WordPress (you better be using the most recent version) you can install these plugins directly from the adminstration area of the software, which is very handy and avoids the sometimes troublesome issues with using a FTP program.
My list is compiled from the years I’ve used WordPress. Some plugins are free, others aren’t. Some do the same functions, but both are good enough that I wanted to mention them here. I currently run 3 blogs and have built many more for clients. These are what I’ve found to be the best.
Here’s my list:
- Flutter
Flutter is a feature rich WordPress CMS plugin that focuses on easy templating for the developer and simplifies content management for the admin by creating custom write panels that can be fully customized (radio buttons, file uploads, image uploads, checkboxes, etc). Flutter also includes power image manipulation (automatic resizing, cropping, watermarking, etc), edit in place (works instantly!), and modulation of your themes.
- Backupify
Found at Backupify.com. Backupify is a service that backs up not only your blogs but your social media/cloud site data as well. Including Facebook, Friendfeed, Flickr, Twitter, Google Docs, Gmail and more - CForms
The ultimate form plugin for WordPress. Totally Intense. - Digg Digg
All-in-One social vote buttons – Digg, Reddit, dDone, Yahoo Buzz, TweetMeme(twitter), fbshare(facebook), Polladium, StumbleUpon, Delicious, Sphinn, Post comments, Google Buzz, Designbump, Designfloat and WebBlend. - Disqus Commenting System
Found at Disqus.com. Disqus is a global comment system that improves discussion on websites and connects conversations across the web. - FD Feedburner Plugin
Redirects the main feed and optionally the comments feed to Feedburner.com. It does this seamlessly without the need to modify templates, setup new hidden feeds, modify .htaccess files, or asking users to migrate to a new feed. All existing feeds simply become Feedburner feeds seamlessly and transparently for all users. Just tell the plugin what your Feedburner feed URL is and you’re done. - NextGen Gallery
- NextGEN Gallery is a full integrated Image Gallery plugin for WordPress with a Flash slideshow option.
- reCaptcha Form
A simple plugin for your WordPress blog that enables you to have a contact form with the reCAPTCHA challenge system. You will need a free account at reCaptcha.net to get an api key. - Sexy Bookmarks
Though the name may be a little “edgy” for some, SexyBookmarks has proven time and time again to be an extremely useful and successful tool in getting your readers to actually submit your articles to numerous social bookmarking sites. - Ultimate Google Analytics
Easy way to hookup Google Analytics to you blog - WP Backup
Backup your blog to your email or to your machine - Custom Admin Branding
Customize the Admin area of your blog - GD Press Tools
Lots of extra admin tools. Neat to play around with - Google Buzz Button
Gives you a Google Buzz button for your site - Google XML Sitemaps
Automatically creates and updates a sitemap for your blog. Very handy - Postalicious (Needs Simple Pie Core Plugin to run)
This will take your bookmarks from Delicious and other services and automatically create posts with your links - Robots Meta
This gives you Robots/Crawler control over your links in each post - Simple 301 Redirects
Easy way to do 301 redirects in your blog - TSG Podcasting
Easy Way to get your podcast into your blog and out to iTunes and other services - Tweetbacks
Shows in the comments section what people are saying about your post - Unfiltered MU
As of right now (March 2010) using WordPress MU you need to install this plugin to allow admins to embed flash in the blog - All in One SEO
A great plugin for those who want better rankings in the search engines. It allows you to edit the meta tags and more granular options as well. - Thesis
Though more of a theme or framework. Thesis is the granddaddy of all frameworks for WordPress. Extremely customizable, it’s worth the 80+ price tag for a license. (Click here to purchase – Yes this is an affiliate link) - Update: Advanced Category Excluder
This plugin is a great plugin if you want to only have certain categories appear in certain areas of your blog. - Update: Simple Twitter Connect
Simple Twitter Connect is a series of plugins that let you add any sort of Twitter functionality you like to a WordPress blog. This lets you have an integrated site without a lot of coding, and still letting you customize it exactly the way you’d like.
Do you have a WordPress plugin that you can’t live without and want to tell the world about? Post them in the comments and please explain what they do.
