Pro WordPress tips and 11 great plugins

WordPress Plugins

Plugin choices will be driven by what you plan to do with your site. With that in mind, I think every site – regardless of its function – may benefit from these:

01. All in One SEO

All in One SEO Pack is a WordPress SEO plugin to automatically optimize your WordPress blog for Search Engines such as Google.

02. Custom Content Shortcode

Display posts, pages, custom post types, fields, images, attachments, comments, files, menus, widget areas.

03. Jetpack by WordPress.com

Jetpack adds powerful features previously only available to WordPress.com users including customization, traffic, mobile, content, and performance tools.

04. Ninja Forms

Forms created with a simple drag and drop interface. Contact forms, Email collection forms, or any other form you want on your WordPress site.

05. Simple Follow Me Social Buttons Widget

Add follow me social buttons. Uses font icons, ready for Retina Display.

06. Simple Lightbox

Simple Lightbox is a very simple and customizable lightbox that is easy to add to your WordPress website.

07. Duplicator

Duplicate, clone, backup, move and transfer an entire site from one location to another.

08. Groups

Groups is an efficient and powerful solution, providing group-based user membership management, group-based capabilities and content access control.

09. Login-Logout

Widget with login, logout, admin and register links. Replacement of the default Meta widget.

10. MailChimp Forms by MailMunch

The #1 MailChimp plugin to get more email subscribers. Easily add MailChimp sign-up forms as popup, embedded widget or sticky top bar.

11. Users Ultra

Users Ultra is the ideal plugin for creating advanced user communities and networks in a few minutes. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Yahoo, Google.

Conclusion

These recommendations are just that – recommendations. They're not meant to be the definitive guide to creating a website. They're simply a list of resources I wish I had when I was working on justwritecode.net and roundaboutfm.com. With any luck, this post will save you a little time – and money.

As a bonus for reading this post until the end - you did do that, right? - here's a tip on where to find some awesome images for your site: Pixabay.

Words: Tammy Coron

Tammy Coron is an iOS developer, backend developer, web developer, writer, and illustrator. She blogs at Just Write Code. Why not download her game, Crow's Quest – it's free!

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