WordPress Tutorial - Recommended Plugins
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Installing WP | Admin Overview | Editing Your Design | Plugins
Plugins can greatly enhance your blog. As I mentioned on the WordPress Admin overview page, to install a plugin, just go to the "Add New" link under the Plugins tab in the WordPress Admin panel. You can use the search function to locate plugins by keyword.
Note: Be careful not to go crazy with plugins because they can also slow down your page loading time.
I personally don't like to have any more than 15 active plugins at any given time. Also, sometimes they can cause instability with your theme and will require you to troubleshoot by disabling them. This is another reason you should limit the amount you use.
Recommended Plugins
All in One SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
This is the only SEO plugin I use. A lot of people install multiple plugins as if that's going to give them an added benefit with search engine rankings. I think it's a waste of time.
All you need is one solid plugin to create your sitemaps and allow you to optimize your titles and descriptions. The rest is up to the your individual promotion strategies (social media, etc.) and popularity of your blog. There is no magic or secret to SEO. Today your rankings largely depend on your popularity -- more so than stuffing keywords and installing plugins.
WP-DB Backup (Database Backup)
Your database stores your posts and comments so it's a good idea to make sure you backup regularly. This plugin can send your backup copy to your email address on intervals you specify.
This plugin allows your commenters to subscribe to the comments of certain posts. They will receive an email when a new comment is made. A great way to build repeat traffic.
Askimet is still probably the most popular anti-spam plugin, but GASP is digging into its market share. Askimet is notorious for marking comments as spam when they are not, so many bloggers have switched to G.A.S.P.
This plugin helps your pages load faster by generating static and loading static files instead of dynamic (PHP) files.
This plugin will randomly send out your archived posts to Twitter. A great way to keep your blog on everyone's radar.
Because WordPress saves your revisions for each post, they can really add up and bog down your database. Use this plugin to clean out your revisions, deleted comments and spam.
Keep spambots from sending you spam through your contact form with this plugin. It randomly generates a 4-character code that people must enter before using your contact form.
Keep visitors on your blog longer by highlighting related posts. This plugin will add a list of related posts after your content.
Installing WP | Admin Overview | Editing Your Design | Plugins
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