Gone Hunting… for WP Plugins
Every once in a while, I go hunting…
Gone hunting...
… hunting for plugins for my blog which is using WordPress as its platform.
Plugins are defined according to Wikipedia as:
a computer program that interacts with a host application to provide a certain, usually very specific, function “on demand”
Sometimes, I find a “cool” feature on someone else’s blog and I want to add the same functionality to Langwitches. I then search WordPress’ plugin directory or directly google for “WordPress or WP plugin and what I want the plugin to do”.
Here is the list of plugins I have currently installed AND activated in my WordPress blog. Check them out and see if you might find them useful for your blog.
Akismet checks your comments against the Akismet web service to see if they look like spam or not.
Akismet
Audio Player is a highly configurable but simple mp3 player for all your audio needs. You can customise the player’s colour scheme to match your blog theme, have it automatically show track information from the encoded ID3 tags and more.
Once the pluginn is activate, you only have to upload your MP3 file and add this code to your post:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Audio Player
cformsII offers unparalleled flexibility in deploying contact forms across your blog. Features include: comprehensive SPAM protection, Ajax support, Backup & Restore, Multi-Recipients, Role Manager support, Database tracking and many more.
cForm
Plugin to show a link to the last post from the commenters blog by parsing the feed at their given URL when they leave a comment. Rewards your readers and encourage more comments.
CommentLuv
Displays recommended stories and associated thumbnails from your blog
LinkWithin
Display a link to the most popular posts on your blog according to the number of comments.
Allows you to point WordPress pages or posts to a URL of your choosing. Good for setting up navigational links to non-WP sections of your site or to off-site resources.
Links Pages to
Create and manage PollDaddy polls in WordPress
Polls
Showcase your Top Posts with the PostRank widget, track social media analytics, and engage with your readers from the WP dashboard.
PostRank
Display and rotate random quotes and words everywhere on your blog. Easy to custom and manage. Ajax enabled.
Collect significant posts to you directly in your Dashboard. Widget will randomly display your quotes in a sidebar for you.
Notifies an email list when new entries are posted.
Subscribe to blog updates via e-mail
Allows readers to receive notifications of new comments that are posted to an entry.
Subscribe to updates of comments on individual posts via e-mail
Adds a button which easily lets you retweet your blog posts.
Allow readers to retweet easily from within you blog
Display Tweets in the sidebar of your blog
Display your own tweets on your blog
Tracks views, post/page views, referrers, and clicks.
Statistics
On-demand backup of your WordPress database.
Allows people to recommand/send your WordPress blog’s post/page to a friend.
E-mail the posts
Displays a printable version of your WordPress blog’s post/page.
Print version of blog post
Simple plugin to convert WordPress 2.3′s tags to Technorati (‘http://technorati.com’) links.
A plugin which formats your site with a mobile theme for the Apple iPhone / iPod touch, Google Android and other touch-based smartphones.
What are your favorite WordPress plugins? Which ones help you and your blog readers get the most out of? Which plugins are activated? Take the poll in the right sidebar or share in the comment section.
Plugins rock, of course. There is an unsaid overhead to keep in mind, is that some plugins, or a huge list of them, might slow down your blog, because they are having to chug through your site on every page load. I try not to go hog wild, and have also been slashing the sidebar cruft that hits external sites for display items (slows down your page loads)
A few additions from my pack:
* Plugins List http://davidebenini.it/wordpress-plugins/plugins-list/ I had previously maintained a static list of hand edited plugins on my “colophon” page (http://cogdogblog.com/bits); this plugin automatically inserts a list of current active plugins
* Twitter Tools http://alexking.org/projects/wordpress multifunction- I use it to automatically post to twitter when a new post is added; can also be used to embed a twitter widget of your tweets on a sidebar
* Twitter Friendly Links http://kovshenin.com/wordpress/plugins/twitter-friendly-links/ Don’t want to rely on external URL shorteners? This creates a short URL based on your domain and the wordpress database ID
* WordPress Database Backup http://www.ilfilosofo.com/blog/wp-db-backup We ALL regular back of our database, right? Don’t we? Shouldn’t we? This makes it easy to do
* WP Super Cache http://ocaoimh.ie/wp-super-cache/ A bit more complicated, but this was key in reducing the load my site was getting, causing it sometimes to not respond to requests. Converts dynamically generated WP pages to static cached ones, making the site run more responsively
.-= Alan Levine´s last blog ..Did Someone Change the Drapes? =-.
@Alan,
Thanks for your list. I especially like the “Plugin List” one. It makes life a lot easier for others to check out what you are using on your site. Still looking for a plugin I saw at one website, where it adds your website link to their clipboard if someone copies & pastes from your post.
In place of WordPress DB Backup I used DB Manager. I made the switch a while back when I noticed that it had decent scheduling features that also included optimizing and repairing tables (features that I had another plugin handle).
.-= Web Publishing Guy´s last blog ..Setting Up Your Web Publishing Site =-.
Great round up! I really like how your focus on your audience and selecting the plugins that could also encourage more traffic and boost community involvement. Another one to add to the list is Super Cache to help your readers load your blog pages faster. -Elena
.-= Elena, SEM specialist´s last blog ..Bing Baby Bing =-.
Thanks for the quick mention of Most Popular Posts! It is certainly the most popular WordPress Plugin I’ve written, and I’m glad to hear about users getting value from it. I’ve written a number of others as well, that make administering pages easier. Check them out!