Must have WP plugins

[Dameize]

Hi everyone.

I figured I should take the time to share some plugins that I use on my wordpress sites. These plugins help with SEO and security and can be very useful. All are gettable from within wordpress so theres no need for me to share an external link. Simply search the name in wordpress. If you have any questions feel free to ask. Maybe a mod could make this a sticky.

• Autoptimize (optimizes your sites files to help you with load times)
• Contact Form 7 (super simple contact form for contact us pages)
• Google XML sitemap generator (generates an xml sitemap for your site)
• Maintenance Mode (if you need to go into maintenance mode your 1click away)
• Page Links To (lets you hyperlink a page externally)
• Login Lockdown (protects your site against password dictionary attacks)
• Quick Cache (super simple caching plugin)
• Secure WordPress (easy security package for wp removes version etc)
• SEO Friendly Images (optimizes your images)
• SEO Smart Links (interlinks your sites content between each other)
• WangGuard (anti spam plugin)
• Wordpress Firewall 2 (a firewall for wordpress)
• WordPress Mobile Pack (auto detects mobile users and displays the theme)
• WP-Cleanup (clean up your junk wp files)
• WP-MalWatch (checks your install for malware)
• WP Security Scan (another security scan plugin)
• WP Smush.it (reduces image size and increase preformance)

Last but not least, Yoast SEO. This plugin is extremely easy to use you simply edit the page or post at the bottom of it exactly how you want by setting a target keyword, description and title. If your using a static wordpress front page you will want to go into general and remove the title and description completely and then add it to the front pages page in wordpress. Yoast can also strip /category/ from your permalinks.

This is a hefty list of plugins but your site will still load extremely fast and it will be optimized and secured.

If anyone would like to add to this list or make any changes just post and I will edit it.

Any questions just post or inbox me and I will be happy to help.

Enjoy!


-----------------------**Member Suggested Alternatives**-----------------------

Custom Contact Forms Instead of Contact Form 7 - Knightsman

WP SlimStat - Scottjess

Jetpack Stats - Scottjess

Quick post page redirect - Ten Yard Fight (alternative to page links to)

All in one seo - Ten Yard Fight (alternative to yoast)

Wp backup -Ten Yard Fight

Fast secure contact form - Ten Yard Fight (alternative to contact form 7)

Recent posts plus - Ten Yard Fight


********************SEO NOTE*************************


In regards to Yoast and all in one seo. Yoast is mainly for static websites such as websties for small businesses. larger blogs SHOULD use Platinum SEO which is an improved version of All in one SEO

 

[Knightsman]

for forms, I found that this plugin was superior. A bit of a learning curve though:

Custom Contact Forms
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/custom-contact-forms/

 

[Dameize]

for forms, I found that this plugin was superior. A bit of a learning curve though:

Custom Contact Forms
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/custom-contact-forms/

Thanks Mate, Never heard of it before. Ill check it out and add it to the list as an alternative!.

 

[MotzTech]

Thanks for the info, I tried an SEO plugin before and it slowed my site to a crawl. I just installed Autoptimize and Yoast SEO and it's even faster then is was before!

 

[Dameize]

Glad to hear. Make sure you set the page up right at the bottom and delete the info wordpress default sets and you will be fine!

 

[scottjess]

Quite a nice List you have there.

 

[Dameize]

Quite a nice List you have there.

thanks, any suggestions?

 

[scottjess]

thanks, any suggestions?

Actually yes I do.

WP SlimStat

Every wordpress installation must IMO have a stats plugin and IMO opinion WP SlimStat is the best out there for this job.

I use this in conjunction with the Jetpack Stats plugin on all my installations.

 

[Dameize]

Added the following. I will check them out my self.

WP SlimStat - Scottjess
Jetpack Stats - Scottjess

 

[TenYardFight]

Great idea. Can't wait to try some new ones.

Here are mine:

Quick post page redirect
All in one seo
Wp backup
Google XML site map
Fast secure contact form
Recent posts plus

 

[Dameize]

Quick post page redirect - Ten Yard Fight (alternative to page links to)

All in one seo - Ten Yard Fight (alternative to yoast)

Wp backup -Ten Yard Fight

Fast secure contact form - Ten Yard Fight (alternative to contact form 7)

Recent posts plus - Ten Yard Fight

ADDED

 

[Rosco]

another great thread very helpful!

 

[Dameize]

another great thread very helpful!

Thanks mate, appreciated

Also, what tuneup plugins do you guys use? surely theres more.

 

[pcbox]

Wordpress SEO by Yoast or SEO Ultimate - All of the SEO plugins have the same core functionality, but differ in what supplemental features they offer. Big fan of SEO Ultimate, but I've recently started using WP SEO by Yoast. It has the functionality of at least 4 plugins in one, and a very small footprint.

Simple 301 Redirects - Simple permanent URL redirection

W3 Total Cache - Caching plugin with a big learning curve, but the benefits are more than worth it. Here's a good settings guide: http://zemalf.com/1443/w3-total-cache/

EZPZ One Click Backup - Backs up your entire wordpress install, not just the database. Auto backup to dropbox feature very handy.

Smart 404 - Compares URL that is giving 404 to most similar working URL and auto redirects leading to lower bounce rates.

SEO Slugs - Automatically removes stop words from your URLs to avoid keyword dilution.

Gravity Forms - Premium contact form of the highest caliber. Pricey, but it has saved me loads of time. Integrates with MailChimp and Paypal too.

 

[Dameize]

Bump. Ill wait a few days untill theres more replies and then I will update it all at once.