I see a new, “Top 10 WordPress Plugin’s” post on some site EVERYDAY. The simple fact is this: There are 1000′s of WordPress plug-ins – some good, some bad – so writing a true Top 10 list is nearly impossible.

Depending on the topic/content of your blog, certain plug-ins will be of benefit while others will just waste space on your server. Instead of trying to push a Top 10 list on you, I thought I would instead try to suggest certain plug-ins based on what what is best for what your blogs’ objective. This is not a Top 10, only my suggestions based on experience and lots of trial-and-error. Here goes it

Note: Many of the plug-ins listed are not simply the “install and use” type. Many of them require you to place code in your various template files. If you have any questions about this, feel free to send an e-mail to wordpresstips@jemmille.com

This post is quite long, so click “read more” to expand (your mind).

If you want to…

Get the word out:

If you want people to be able to Digg, Stumble, “fave” on Technorati, tag on del.ici.ous, or anything else to do with submitting to social networks I have two suggestions.

• Antisocial/Socalizer – This plugin adds the nice little buttons I have at the bottom of each post. I have written my own version you can download it by clicking here.
• Feedburner Flares – This isn’t so much a plug-in as an addition of code to your template. These are text-links that perform the same function as the graphical buttons mentioned above but with a little more (but not as pretty) functionality. The benefit of these “Feed Flares” is the ability to show live “how many” stats from Digg, del.ici.ous, and most other “Flares”. I used to use these but I like the pretty little pictures better. You have to use Feedburner for your RSS in order to use these.
• If you want to see what else if available, go here or here.

Stop comment Spam:

Comment Spam makes your page look bad. If you don’t check your comments daily, you can literally get 100′s of erroneous comments that only try to get people to buy stupid shit. Here are my suggestions:

• Akismet – This plug-in comes with WordPress, you just have to activate it by getting an API code. Get your API code here. The Akismet website says it blocks 92% of all blog Spam, but I have yet to receive one Spam comment it didn’t stop.
• AJAX Comments combined with AuthImage – Readers like to see their comments post immediately. This can only be accomplished if you decided not to moderate every comment. By using AJAX Comments in combination with AuthImage, you can let readers have instant gratification as well as prevent comment Spam by requiring users to use image verification in order to post a comment. Be sure to read ALL the directions before implementing this combination. You have to add code to your comment template and edit the .php file of the AJAX plugin for this to work correctly.
• Trackback List – Track-backs aren’t Spam but they can ruin the flow of a good “comment conversation”. This plug-in separates your comments from your track-back links. You can have your track-backs listed before or after the regular comments.
• If you want to see what else if available, go here or here.

Backup your precious blog:

I have something like 150 posts (so far). If I were to lose all of that work I would be devastated. Not only would my readers not be able to read archived posts, I would lose an entire part of my life that I have put hours and hours of work into. Prevent this from happening!

• WP Database Backup - This is all you need. Install this plug-in, run the backup. You can save your backup to your harddrive, have it e-mail, or save it to your server. I recommend e-mailing and downloading.
• If you want to see what else if available, go here or here.

Let Readers Interact:

Letting your readers give or get feedback on your site is something I have found beneficial to both blogger and reader. Comments are, in my opinion, the best form of interaction between the two, but a few site additions can also help.

• WP Polls or Poll Press – Both of these plug-ins create polls for readers to vote on. Both work great and are easy to set up. Choosing between the two is mostly a matter of visual preference. Take a look at both before you decide.
  
• Top Commentators – This plug-in give back to your readers. It shows who has commented the most and supplies a link to their site (provided they give one when they comment). You can edit the number of commentators shown and how often it resets the list. I reset mine monthly.
• If you want to see what else if available, go here or here.

Make a Little Cash:

• WP Open Ads – This plug-in makes is super easy to manage and switch-out your ads. You can use it with any ad program (Adsense, Azoogle, AuctionAds, etc.) When you use this plug-in your code is much more compact and looks prettier as well; Only one line to insert and ad, not the 10+ you have to insert when you copy code straight from the advertisers page. Tim Trice, the author of the plug-in, is currently working on some cool new features, including the ability to automatically rotate ads and track your ad clicks within WordPress.
• If you want to see what else if available, go here or here.

Ok, this is all for now. (This took a long freaking time to write.) If you want tips on optimizing your Word Press blog for search engines, see my previous post here. It covers more plug-ins that help with SEO stuff.

Do you have any suggestions or additions? I would love to hear about them. I know there are tons of others out there and I have not even come close to using or seeing them all. You can leave a comment or, if you have a lot to say, send an e-mail to wordpresstips@jemmille.com Before someone sends me an e-mail about the Widgets plug-in, save your breath. I know about it, but I don’t like it because it doesn’t allow me to customize as precisely as I need to. It is great for some, but not me.

Filed under: Blogging, Lessons Learned, Tips