1) Askismet - This one is a no brainer because everyone hates spam on your blog. The wild thing is that you don’t really realize how much spam you get until you install this plugin and actually see what it catches. Amazing! Simply a must have for all blogs and bloggers, period. No link because Askismet comes on your blog automatically.
2) Comment Luv - If you have a desire of building a community on you blog, then Comment Luv is a must. This plugin encourages readers to participate by listing their most recent article post (most of the time) beneath their comment. It gives them a better chance of receiving traffic from their comments because their latest article may intrigue another reader enough for them to visit. Thus the increase in potential readers means an increase in comments for you. Besides, I think the Blogosphere basically expects you to have this plugin by now.
3) Keyword luv - This is basically an extension of the comment luv feature and allows your users to include keywords that relate to their site and hyperlink them back to their site. This is again great for community building blogs. But to be honest, I rarely use this feature when I am commenting because I am usually just trying to engage the blogger or get a link back to my site, so sometimes it appears to be a bit of over kill for me.
4) Related Post – If you ask me this is a must for all blogs. The related post plugin provides a list of post that might be similar to the one that the reader is reading. This is great because if the post was eye catching and enjoyable, the reader may want something similar to that one. This plugin gives that to them. You can put this plugin into your side bar or footer, but my favorite place for it is at the bottom of individual post, or on the Single.php page, usually. That is the optimal place for it because if a reader gets all the way through the post, then it may mean that they liked or was intrigued by it….maybe even enough to stay on your site to read something similar or related.
5) WP Print – This is a standard plugin that allows all of your readers to download and print your articles in a printable format. If you are taking the time to produce quality content, many of your readers are going to want to print them out to read later. Everyone doesn’t like to read on a computer screen believe it or not.
6) Sociable – I love the sociable plugin because it allows your readers to spread the word about your great post anytime they want. Usually, you will find this plugin at the bottom of an article so when the reader makes their way through it they will be able to click a button and Digg, Propeller, Stumble, Redd it, Mixx and more your article to all of the best social book marking websites out there. And believe me, all of them are included in this plugin. You can mark a check box next to the ones that you want to utilize or not.
7) Tube Press – This is a great plugin for grabbing relevant YouTube videos and putting them into your blog. I use this plugin a lot when flipping websites as it ads great content, looks very professional, and does the job very well. Did I mention how simple it is to install? No, well, it is and you should be sure to check it out.
8 ) WordBay – Here is another simple plugin that I use on flip sites as well. It could be great for niche sites if you are into them as well. All that is require is you download the plugin, get a free ebay developers account, plugin your account number, and use the WordBay plugin to display relevant ebay auctions right inside your website. When a browser clicks on a listing, they are taking to the ebay website and if they make the purchase, you get the credit. Simple, easy way to cash in on the power of ebay.
9) AW Stats – Yes, everyone and their mother are using Google Analytics, but sometimes you might want some stats that are a little different and right there on your server. AW Stats give you that option. And you can use it as a check to see how accurate GA is from time to time. It is free, so check it out.
10) Contact (cforms) - How are you going to have a blog without a contact form? What if you readers want to contact you? After all, blogging is a contact sport. Download this plugin and you will be amazed how easy it is to implement a customized contact form into your website. There are so many websites out there that do not have a contact for that it is sickening, especially when it is so easy to get. It will take two minutes to put a form into your site and that is if you are being picky!
11) Google XML Site Map – Download this now! Don’t ask questions about what it is, just do it! If you have any desire at all to gain search engine rank positions, SERPs, then this is a must for search engine optimization. Google XML site map keeps the Big G, Google, updated on the site map of your website site. Very important plugin, even if you are not really into plugins.
12) My Page Order – This is a nifty little plugin that allows you to change the order of your web pages. Sometimes you might want more important pages to the left of your page navigation and this plugin will allow you to do that as well. Moving around the pages is so easy with this plugin that I highly recommend it if that is what you are looking for. This is great for personal blogs and interest blogs as well.
13) All in One SEO - Here is another plugin that you should just download right now. Don’t worry about it, just get it. Again, if search engine optimization is anywhere in your future, then you need this plugin. It is the best for updating your title and description tags automatically based on the nature of the content. You got to love that. You can customize further if you need, but this plugin really takes the work out of SEO work in my opinion. It goes into every blog I produce. Must have!
14) Head Space – Head space is another one of these SEO plugins that you can use. I have been using it less and less since really understanding the functions of All in One SEO, but it is another option as well for you to use when customizing the head section of your blogs.
15) Random Post – Random post is great for creating addition internal links within your website and even keeping the reading interesting for your readers as it will suggest random post that they may not have ordinarily clicked in the first place. Typically, you will find the random post plug at the end of an article, enticing the reader to take another round through your material.
16) Subscribe to Comments - If your blog is about community building and your trying to encourage participation amongst your readers, then you have to take a moment to install this plugin as it will allow your readers to subscribe to comments and receive an email when someone else has said something on a post them might have interest. Again, great for building the community and keeping the participation going.
17) Ozh-Admin Drop Down Menus – This is a must have. You might be thinking drop down menus on a blog is no big deal, but this is drop down menus in the WP-Admin area for your internal use!!! I got hip to this plugin by Joe from ImWithJoe.com and have been addicted to it every since. There is no blogs that I own that don’t have this plugin into it because of how it will increase your work flow and time spent on a site. You might not understand now, but download this one and you will quickly wonder how you ever got along with out it. Trust me on this one, I will never blog again without it.
18) WP Back Up – Got to back up your material. All it takes is one time to lose everything you have been working on to understand the importance of this plugin. The idea is to never experience that pain in the first place, so download this one now.
19) OIO Publisher - Ok, this plugin cost a little money to use, but if you are after advertisers on your website, then you got to have it. OIO manages the advertising for you and ensures that you are paid before ads are posted on your website, freeing you to move on to bigger and more important issues concerning your blog. Get the OIO publisher today.
20) Easy Pay Pal - If you wan to sell items on your blog, you might have found it impossible to link to PayPal with WordPress. Well this plugin does the trick for you.
However, since I have started this list, I discovered a way to make this happen without the use of a plugin. If you are interested in that, then check out this article I wrote entitled, How to Link to PayPal Payment from WordPress without a Plugin.
21) Feedburner Feedsmith - Feed burner Feedsmith is another way to integrate your feedburner and Rss material into your site and syndicated around the world. There is no need doing all of this typing if you are not going to make it as easy as possible for people to use it and enjoy it. Give this one a shot today.
22) Technorati Incoming Links – Technorati has become an important part of the blogging world. If it has taken over your life as well, then consider using the incoming link monitor to help determine how many links you are generating that is coming into your blog that Technorati will give you credit for.
23) Top Commentator Plugin – Community style blogs must have this plugin. It rewards people that communicate in your blog by commenting with a listing on the your site and a backlink to their blog. This back link is counted by Technorati and is a way to generate traffic to the commentors blog as well as encourages participation in your blog. It is a win-win for all parties involved.
24) Gd-Star Rating – Often times, your readers like to rate various comments and your blogging as well. GD star rating allows them to do this. If you are producing practical and useful articles, then you might want to allow your readership to rate your work, but if you are producing crap, then I would suggest that you spare your feelings cause your readers are going to be honest with you.
25) What’s your suggestion? - I like to hear from you. What plugins not on this list would you recommend for bloggers to use? Let’s continue the conversation and I will post some of them here.
Closing Comments
At the end of day, there are hundreds even thousands of useful plugins available for your to utilize. My suggestion would be to find the ones that are doing the most for you and the growth of your blog and try not to use them all. That is the think about the plugin market, there are so many, but too many on your blog will begin to slow it down. Keep this in mind when you are adding every plugin you find to your blog that you need to focus on the ones that will bring you the most benefit and get you closer to your goals. There is no prizes for using plugins, only prizes for using them effectively.
I couldn’t get my Wp-Print to work as I’m guessing another plugin is intefering with it. And although the same thing is happening with the following plugin since it does work on my other sites, you might want to think about using Kaltura plugin which allows you upload videos from yourself, youtube,myspace,and more right from your blog and insert them into the comments field(or posts)…it’s a way for readers to leave video comments and more
BTW: Do you have to be a member of eBay partner network to use WordBay?
Calebs last blog post..What I Learned From Me
@ Caleb – Thanks for the update. I wasn’t hip to Kaltura plugin, but will definitely be checking it out.
As for eBay, no you don’t have to be an eBay partner to use it. But if you want to get paid from the potential sales on your site, then you might want to sign up for it. It’s free.
I use the WordBay plugin in my Site Flips and don’t bother to put my publisher ID in while I am flipping. Could be missing out on sales, but just more focused on selling the site.
You rock buddy. These posts are so beyond helpful, let me tell you. Having the research work done for you (even though sometimes it’s the funnest part!) is a lifesaver. MUST STOP MY SPAM COMMENTS!
Matty Bylooss last blog post..Van Hammersly: Famous Billiards Player
@ Matty – Glad these will come in handy for you. Nothing like plugin to solve your problems and yes, FIGHT THAT SPAM!!!
Freddie Taylors last blog post..25 Must Have Plugins for Bloggers
Bo Selecta!
Freddie bringing out the big gun ‘list’ post that we all know and love. Another quality selection of Plugins! Say it together…”FIGHT THAT SPAM!”
I forgot to put aksimet on one of my blogs and, as I have not updated it for a while, I get about 1200 spam comments a week on it!!! Thankfully, they all come from 1 or 2 IP addresses so I have manualy banned those. Still took about a week to clear them all though.
This is why I also have a ‘spare’ email for any internet registrations I need to fill out. Email spam also pisses me right off! Don’t need viagra, a far east asian wife, free casino chips or another freakin ringtone…and thanks for selcting me from a pool of thousands to win a ‘Free’ luxury holiday, but I will politely decline on the basis that I win about five a day!!!!
…and yes, I am not in the best of moods this morning
Hey, Freddie:
I would add to the list: Physic Search and Simple Tags. The former lets you see search engine traffic from within your wp admin dashboard. Invaluable, i love it. I add it to all my blogs. Psst. Don’t tell anyone but i only go into my Google Analytics acct like once a month. Don’t tell anyone. K.
And Simple Tags is a plugin which spits out tags for you based on your post content. Another must have IMHO.
The only thing i have been concerned about lately in ref to wp plugins, is load. I need to learn more about load and resource use. WP needs to find a way to do plugin integration better, as far as the backend part. You know compatibility and server load etc.
I like CL but it is acting up on my blog.
Missys last blog post..My New Project Is A Tshirt Blog, Plus 5 Questions For You
Due to my early experiences with the eBay Partner Network, I think I’ll have to pass on the WordBay plugin.
I just noticed you’re using one very valuable, time saving, traffic-pulling plugin located at the end of your sidebar that you forgot to mention on your list: ONlyWire!
Hint: If you install the OnlyWire plugin code to be located somewhere after your posts, users will be able to bookmark and submit that particular post to the major social services without leaving your site.
Calebs last blog post..Doing What You Like
Just a little correction for all these wanting to search for akismet – you've got a typo in the name of this plugin. Good compilation Freddie
Dieta, thank you for dropping by my site and for the correction. I would have never seen that one.
I will have to check out the stats plugin(#9), because I recently got rid of Google Analytics on all but one of my blogs. I was considering writing my own plugin, but am gonna check out some of the available plugins first.
I use the #11, the XML SiteMap Generator as well, and have been very happy with how well it works. It really makes creating a quality sitemap incredibly easy.
Let me ask, why did you get rid of Google Analytics? That is interesting and I would like to hear you out.
Also, this isn't a plugin, but I have been using http://www.Woopra.com lately on two sites. It is awesome. I guess I should do a review on Woopra to make you addicted as well. But it is free as well and gives you live stats, graphs, keywords, analytics which is AWESOME I tell you.
The only bad thing about Woopra is it is addictive. I cannot seem to stop looking at it. And when people are live on your site, you can watch their page movements. Crazy!
“Let me ask, why did you get rid of Google Analytics? That is interesting and I would like to hear you out.”
To be honest, it was mostly because I felt like I was providing google with too much information about my sites, without any real control or knowledge as to how they used the information.
I'm sure they have that info anyway.
Good post. I liked your list of plugins. According to me Askismet is the most important plugin. Even comment love is important. I read about Keyword love for the first time
Wow, first time reading about keyword luv. Glad I could point it out to you. Give it a shot. The thing about blogging is you have to test, test, and test some more to find out what you like, your readers like, and what is going to make the most sense for everyone involved.
Wow, first time reading about keyword luv. Glad I could point it out to you. Give it a shot. The thing about blogging is you have to test, test, and test some more to find out what you like, your readers like, and what is going to make the most sense for everyone involved.
Hey very nice blog!! Man .. Beautiful .. Amazing .. I will bookmark your blog and take the feeds also…
Amazing blog! Will come back again..