Hi Guys! I´ve been a developer focused in wordpress for the last 5 years and in that time I tested and used many many plugins. For every site I develop I use almost the same plugins. So I would like to share the list with you, so you don't spend time finding proper and good coded plugins. I don't use all these plugins at the same time, it all depends on your needs but these are all the plugins I use or used and i can recommend. Im sure there are a lot more of plugins around that deserve to be listed, again this is just my personal opinion Spam Protection: Akismet - Akismet is definitely a must have plugin. It will protect against 99,9% of your spam comments. It comes with WP by default, you just need a wordpress.com account to create a free account Block Spam by math reloaded - I use this plugin to protect login form. I don't use it in all of my sites, but a lot of clients ask for it SEO & analitycs: WordPress SEO by Yoast and Google Analytics for Wordpress - The first is a complete SEO solution which includes xml sitemaps, breadcrumbs and a lot more of options. The second , from the same author, is the solution to manage google analytics. All in One SEO Pack - Another excellent plugin i used in the past. I switched to Yoast because i just wanted one plugin to manage everything. Google XML Sitemaps - Before Yoast , I always used this plugin along with All in One SEO Pack. Jetpack - Wordpress Jetpack includes statistics along with many other features File & Database Backup: BackupWordpress - It creates automated backups of your site files & database. Excellent for a free version Backupbuddy ( not free) - Excellent backup plugin that will let you restore and migrate sites very easily. Yes you can change your site from one server / domain to another very easily with this plugin. Wp Db Migrate - Excellent Db migration tool. An easy way to move sites from one to domain to another, etc Caching & Optimization: W3 Total Cache - Complete cache solution that also include CSS and Js minification. Depending on the hosting I use this plugin or the next one. This one has a lot more of options but it's for advanced users. WP Super Cache - Easy and powerful cache plugin. It's not as powerful as W3 Total Cache but it's more compatible with cheap shared hostings Security: Security it's very important, and not all the people pay attention to this. The first thing you should do is to have a strong admin password. Also changing the username admin to something different will help. Pay attention to plugins and wordpress and always stay up to date. Try to not use hundreds of plugins on the same site and from unknown users. More plugins = more options to be hacked Bulletproof Security - BulletProof security plugin offers website security protection against: XSS, RFI, CRLF, CSRF, Base64, Code Injection and SQL Injection. It will protect your folders and htaccess. It's a bit complicated to use but it worth. All In One WP Security & Firewall - The All In One WordPress Security and Firewall is the ultimate security plugin that will take your WordPress site’s security to a whole new level. Contact Forms: Contact Form 7 (I use) - There are tons of contact form plugins but I always use the same two depending on my needs. For a simple contact form I stick with the excellent and free plugin Contact form 7. Gravity Forms ( I use - not free) - If i need something more complicated and easy to edit (for my clients) I use the paid plugin, gravity forms. Social Networking: Jetpack (I use)- Again on the list with this excellent plugin built by Wordpress Team, you will be able to share your posts easily and automatically to the main Social Sites as Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, etc Sociable (I use)- This plugin will add social icons to your posts/pages so users can share them with other people. Share This (I use)- Same as sociable, another choice to try. This plugin could be better coded but sometimes i use it. Twitter Like Box ( I use ) - For facebook i just use a text widget and insert the code from Facebook. For Twitter i built this plugin myself to display a like box where i can show my followers or the people I Follow Social Popup ( I use ) - This is another of my plugins which let you create a popup that shows when a visitor arrives at your site. Once they click on like or twitter follow button the popup close. Great plugin to increase followers and likes fast. Wordpress Social Invitations ( I use - not free ) - The last plugin built by me. It will simple let your users share your site by sending invitations to all their friends in any social network. For Adsense: Google Adsense Plugin ( I use) - It allows you to set parameters of the ads displaying, such as format (text ad, image, text with an image or link), size, color of the elements in the ad block, rounded corners and the ad block position on the website. I have little experience with it Ecommerce: Woocommerce (I use) - For general shops I use this excellent, perfectly coded plugin. I simple love it because it's really easy to use and modify. Easy digital downloads (I use) - Another excellent plugin from Pippin. If you want to sell digital goods, this is your plugin. Photo Gallery: NextGenGallery (I use) - I always build the gallery myself but when i need to create one easy and simple i used this plugin. Developers: Debug Bar ( I use) - Every developer should use debug bar when creating a plugin or theme. Regenerate Thumbnails (I use) - When creating a theme you sometimes add or remove image sizes. With this plugin, you can regenerate the thumbnails very easily. Monkeyman Rewrite Analizer (I use) - When playing with wordpress rewrite rules, this plugin comes to rescue. Newsletters: Wysija Newsletters ( I use) - When i need a simple newsletter system this is the one to go. AutoChimp ( I use) - If you manage your mail list in Mailchimp, this plugin will make your life easier. Im missing a lot of plugins that i use but not very often to include it here. Let mw know your thoughts. What plugins do you use instead?
This is a great plugin list. I use very few plugins on my blog, because I like it to be slim and fast. I only have 9 plugins. Just some basic security stuff, social sharing, akismet, w3 total cache, and stuff like that.
Yes i don't use all in the same site. But between my sites and my client's sites, these are all the plugins i use / like
That is a nice list. Here are a couple new(er) plugins that I have found. Analytics - Clicky Analytics (http://wordpress.org/plugins/clicky-analytics/) - Gives you ONLY useful information. Some people get lost with Google Analyitcs because there is so much information. Random (but fun) - jonradio Multiple Themes (http://wordpress.org/plugins/jonradio-multiple-themes/) - Allows you to use multiple themes on one website...custom per each page. I found this to be pretty awesome, as sometimes I want a different feel for some pages/aspects of the website.
thanks for sharing your plugin list here. It helps a lot. and I am using most of the plugins you have mentioned
Thanks WPLOL. I just realized that all the links are gone from the plugin titles. I will try to add them again not sure if it's a permission problem
Very true RKC...but some plugins are we need! Especially security and any other features that the clients want/need. I always test my sites on http://gtmetrix.com/ and make adjustments from there.