7 of the most useful WordPress Plugins
Now that my blog appears to be complete and almost completely error free. I am sure there are some things I missed but the annoying missing images are now fixed and the horrid 'embed_video' text no longer appears in the sidebar I decided to share seven of the plugins I find useful.
1. Yet another related wordpress plugin
This plugin is great. It gives you the chance to add links at the bottom of a post to other posts of yours which may interest your reader. Since installing this easy to use plugin I have found some of my stats have dramatically changed. First of the average amount of time on for each user has risen as readers navigate from post to post rather than reading one they found through google and then leaving to find something else.
You can download the plugin here.
Installation instructions here.
2. WP - Slimbox2
Want a cool ajax pop up box which fades the rest of your site out so the users is focusing on the image added to your post. Well this plugin is perfect for you. It has a great admin panel where you can change so many different things. Such as the fade color or the keys used on the keyboard to change from one image to the next. Once this plugin is installed any images on any posts will be come click-able and will open in the way you have set it to do so.
You can download the plugin here.
Installation instructions here.
3. Smart YouTube
This plugin I think some of you may find pointless but I like it as it is simple to use. Instead of wasting time adding the embed code for the YouTube video you wish to post this plugin allows you to just paste in the URL of the video and change the http:// to httpv://
This will then display the video you wish to display. I use this as it is a fraction quicker than pasting the embed code and saves some of my valuable seconds. The other reason is because you can select different ways of displaying the video in the admin panel keeping the look consistent through-out your wordpress blog.
You can download the plugin here.
Installation instructions here.
4. Comment Reply Notification
Ever had users leave a comment with a question and not knowing if they see the response. Well with this plugin when a reply is written to one of the comments posted on your site the plugin takes the e-mail address of the original commenter and sends them a notification informing them that there comment has been replied to. This is a great plugin as it keeps debates in the comment section on going and keeps visitors coming back to your site helping with your incoming traffic.
You can download the plugin here.
Installation instructions here.
5. Customize your Community
I don't use this plugin on this site as I do not have a user registration system or log in. Only admins can log in to this site. However this plugin is great and I use it on the sister site to this, which is my free flash game site. This plugin is quite complex to use and crashes in some themes but once it is working it is great. What it does is it removes the branding behind the traditional wordpress log-ins and registration pages and adds your theme to these pages. People will never know you are using wordpress.
You can download the plugin here.
Installation instructions here.
As this plugin is hard to use if you decide to do so please read the instructions here or contact me.
6. WP-PostViews
This plugin logs the amount of times a page or a post has been viewed and gives you a widget you can add to your dynamic sidebars so users of your site can see your most popular post and page. On some sites this is not needed and on others it is a great feature. I have this added to my free flash game site so users know what other games people are playing and probably therefore the most popular meaning the game or content is worth viewing.
You can download the plugin here.
Installation instructions here.
7. WP-PostRatings
This plugin gives you the chance to add a rating system to your posts or pages. Users are then are able to rate the post using a star system (other images are available such as thumbs up and hearts etc). Using the use of our favourite thing in the world Ajax it will accept your rating and pass it to the database with out the need to refresh the page. This plugin also comes with a widget you can use in the sidebar to display your highest rated content. Which will probably lead more people to a certain post and might keep them on the site longer as they may view the highest rated page if google led them to a low rated post.
You can download the plugin here.
Installation instructions here.
Whats your favourite wordpress plugin and where can you download it. All of the above plugins I do use or have used before but might not as I no longer need them. If you therefore need any help with them please do not hesitate to contact me and I will help you out or at least give you a push in the right direction.
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I highly enjoyed reading this article, keep up writing such interesting posts.