The following are the plugins I use on my WordPress blogs. I don’t use every single plugin on every blog as some are only applicable to certain situations. And having more than the necessary amount of plugins can slow down a blog.
An asterisk* beside a plugin name indicates that I consider it an essential and install it in virtually every one of my WordPress Blogs. However, keep in mind that some premium themes include features which make certain plugins unnecessary.
Additionally, remember that when WordPress it updated, plugins sometimes go out-of-date – either permanently, or until the plugin author has updated them to be compatible with the latest version of WordPress. By the time you read this page, some of the below plugins might not be compatible with the latest version of WordPress. To find out which plugins are compatible with the version of WordPress you are using, visit the Plugin Compatibility Page.
(Note: I will add descriptions as time allows. For now I am just listing out the plugins, with links to where you can find them.)
Administrative Plugins (these help you to manage your WordPress blog more easily)
*Akismet – The anti-spam plugin which comes with each WordPress install. This plugin is a must. You will need to have a free account at WordPress.com in order to use this plugin but it is easy to set up.
*Ozh Admin Dropdown Menu – Eliminates a lot of page load and clicking time by giving you a dropdown menu in your WordPress admin panel. This is one of my favorite plugins and saves enormous amounts of time when I am working on one of my WordPress blogs.
* No Spam NX WordPress Plugin – This plugin does an excellent job at protecting you from comment robots which leave generic automated comments on your blogs, by helping to determine whether a comment was left by a real person or a robot. You can read more about this plugin at my post here.
*Plugin Central – This is the plugin of plugins. Allows you to install multiple plugins, directly from your dashboard, by simply inserting the URL or the name of the plugin, so that there is no need to download and upload the plugin. Also allows you to update multiple plugins to the latest version, with one click.
SEO, Security, and Site Optimization Plugins (optimize your blog for search engines, and make sure your blog is running properly)
Dagin Design Sitemap Generator
*Max Blog Press Ping Optimizer
Post, Page, and Navigation Plugins (these help you organize the layout of your posts, pages, and navigation, or create specialized types of pages)
*Exclude Pages from Navigation
Comment Plugins (plugins which apply to comments) See also “Twitter Plugins”
KeywordLuv
RSS Plugins
WP-O-Matic
Twitter Plugins
Add Twitter Links to Comments
Comment Tweets
Optional and Specialized Plugins (whether you will need them will depend on the circumstances and the nature of the blog)
Featured Content Gallery
Monetization and Tracking Plugins
*Google Analyticator
Social Networking Plugins (which one(s) you choose might depend largely on the design and appearance of your blog, and which button fits the best)
MyBlogLog Recent Viewers Widget
Wordbook
Very good to hear Usman, hope it works out well.
Awesome! I really was looking for this post from you. This will really help me lots for choosing plugins for my blog too.
Thanks Anna!
Hi,
Word press have lot of good plug-in.Some of them i try on my web site.They really make our work lot easier.
Very nice post.
Thanks for the sharing the list.
Anna,
Which plugin or widget you have used for the poll?
Usman
Hi Usman, I used a Plugin called WP-Polls, this is the site: http://lesterchan.net/portfolio/programming/php/
Yesterday is the first time I installed it on this blog. I’m testing it to see how it works before I add it to my list.
Thanks for visiting my blog again!!
My favorite plugin is the all-in-one SEO plugin. I can’t start a blog without it!
The best plugin is a seo plugin it needs to b installed and always be updated in the system to use it for seo work. it really works and thanks for sharing such a informative points.