5 Must-have Plugins for Your Wordpress Blog
November 6, 2008
I’ve tested some of the following features and others I have only glanced at. So don’t blame me if you try any of these out and they don’t work! Try them at your own risk!
To activate them, you need to unzip them and then place them in your “wp-content/plugins” folder by firing up a FTP program and moving things from your PC to your blog (FileZilla is an excellent choice). Often, there are written instructions inside the folder you must follow for it to work. Like everything else, this is all trial and error. If it doesn’t work, keep fiddling around with it until it does work.
- Recent Comments - one of the things I like most about Wordpress is the ability to highlight recent comments on the front page. It’s only natural for readers to get a kick out of seeing their name on the page and this encourages them to come back and comment again. It’s also good for the blog owner to get a brief overview of any new comments that have come in.
- Subscribe to Comments - this is a really cool feature which I have just implemented on my site. It allows people to subscribe to the comments in a post by having them emailed to them. Plus someone can subscribe to the comments without having to leave a comment first. Again, this is a good way to encourage repeat visitors.
- Show Related Entries - this is one I have always wanted for my blog. This scans the post you have just read and offers links to similar posts that you have written. This is good for getting visitors to read and comment on your older work that may not be so visible anymore. A good way of recycling something you wrote ages ago.
- Askimet - anyone who uses the internet for any lengthy period of time knows full well the spam problem. Bloggers have an even rougher time of it as blogs attract regular visitors and that is fertile hunting ground for the spammers. Askimet is a robust effective spam filtering tool that nukes the spam before it has a chance to hit your blog.
- Redirection - this one was recommended to me by Aibek but unfortunately I can’t use it. Basically this plug-in allows you to re-direct posts if the URL changes or if someone types in the website name without the “www” (redirection will add the “www”). But I can’t use it because it needs “.htaccess” and it seems that Yahoo (my hosting company) doesn’t allow it! Which is a pity because this looks like a really great plug-in.
I am currently looking for a good Wordpress backup tool. If anyone can recommend one, please do let me know in the comments.
So those are my top five plug-ins so far. I’ll be back again tomorrow with my next batch of tools that you should look at for a Wordpress blog. As usual, please leave your comments and recommendations!
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