Essential WordPress plugins

OK, I’ve been busy adding new plugins and setting up my WordPress installation, and I think I got it sorted out now. There are probably things that I will need to add at some later stage, but below is what I think to be a bare minimum for a blog/news site, or in fact any site for that matter. I’m pretty sure there are loads of “must have plugins” lists out there, but this is my favourite.

1. Akismet. If you plan using comments (who doesn’t?) you most definitely need this one. This plugin will check any new comment against it’s spam database and if it thinks it is spam – it will not allow it to show up on your site. So no more penis enlargement pill comments… Apparently 83% of comments are spam. It comes in a default installation and also requires WordPress API key. Plugin website.
2. All in One SEO Pack. Makes your website more search engine friendly. Not really sure how critical is that, but I tent to just install these plugins, just in case. Plugin website.
3. Amazon Affiliate Link Localizer. This one is quite handy if you’re advertising Amazon products on your site. Problem with Amazon is that you will not earn a penny if you advertise Amazon.com product and german user clicks and buys it off Amazon.de. This plugin detects the location of the user and display appropriate Amazon website link. Plugin website.
4. Contact Form 7. Simple contact form. Yet quite extensible, allows you to add custom fields, email forwarding, etc. Plugin website.
5. Easy AdSense. Another must have for those who want to place their GoogleAds on the blog. Although it’s primarily meant for placing GoogleAd code, you can use it for other affiliate networks as well. Plugin website.
6. FollowMe. Everyone’s on Twitter these days right? This plugin displays a Twitter “FollowMe” link on your blog. Plugin website.
7. Google Analytics for WordPress. Another plugin to make your website and Google friends. Adds Google Analytics code to all your pages. Plugin website.
8. Google XML Sitemaps. Yup, they want sitemaps as well. So Let’s provide them with some. Very simple and easy to configure. Plugin website.
9. Inline Posts. This one allows you to include posts in your pages. I mean any page. Let’s say if for whatever reason in your about page you decide to add posts – now you can with this plugin. Plugin website.
10. Sociable. Puts links to all gazillion social networking websites that are out there, so people who enjoy reading your posts can spread the joy and love. And yes, you can only select those that you like. Plugin website.
11. WordPress.com Stats. Kind of redundant if you use Google analytics, but I like the ability to quickly check how the blog is doing in terms of visitors, etc. Also requires WordPress account. Plugin website.

As I said, this is just the beginning. These are bare necessity to get you online in a good shape. Add more to your taste afterwards…

Update 1

Just when I started writing my first post about coding, I realised that simple <pre> tag is way too boring and I want something juicier. So there it is, a plugin that adds syntax highlight to the code syntax snippets in your posts. It extends simple <pre> so that you can say <pre lang=”python”> and it’ll render nicely highlighted syntax:

• WP-syntax. Plugin website.

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