Standard Wordpress Plugins Every Site Needs

Posted by Colin Clark on Nov 6th, 2009 | Comments

As a developer I’m constantly testing new wordpress plugins so that I can share that extended functionality with my clients.  What this has led to is an ever-evolving list of standard plugins that I use on every site I build.

Akismet

It comes with wordpress, it’s easy to activate, and it helps combat comment spam.

Disqus

Disqus is awesome for moderating comments.  I tried IntenseDebate as well, but Disqus is way better.  It also helps keep spammers out of your site and hosts comments remotely with speeds up your site and keeps it more secure.  Oh, and it looks cool and adds additional functionality.

Formbuilder

There are tons of form-building extensions out there and most do a pretty good job.  I like this one, because there is a pretty reasonable learning curve for new users.

Google XML Sitemap

This is by far the easiest way to make sure that Google indexes your site correctly.  It automatically updates the dynamic sitemap when you add or change content.

My Page Order

The built-in page ordering in Wordpress is pretty crummy.  This plugin makes it really easy to get your pages in the right order.  It has really nice drag-and-drop interface that is really excellent.

Theme My Login

This plugin changes your Wordpress login screen so that it matches your website instead of the standard login screen.  It really has no functional purpose, but I think it adds a nice custom touch to the experience.

WP Easy Uploader

This is a fantastic plugin that allows you to upload any file you want to any directory on your hosting server.  It’s really handy.

Page Links To

I almost always need this plugin so I always install it.  Gives you the ability to link a page in the navigation menu to a different URL.  So if I want to create a page called ‘blog’ I can easily link that menu item to the proper url.

All in one SEO Pack

This plugin gives you total control over page title tags, meta data, and keywords.  It’s pretty much essential for proper internal SEO.

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