Blogging Day 11 | WordPress Plugins

Once again, Jess of Chaos and Love is teaching us all we need to know about the behind-the-scenes tech stuff. Remember back during my Pinterest month when she showed us how to pin from our mobile devices easily? She blogs about her kids, her crafting, and her baking on her site, and clearly she has the tech figured out. (Plus, she just redesigned her Chaos and Love, and you’ll love the ampersands!)

For beginning bloggers, plugins can be tricky to navigate. What are they? Do I need them? Are there rules? The answers to these questions aren’t always clear, but I’ve learned some of the basics in the 3 years since I made the leap to a self-hosted WordPress site.

First thing’s first. What are WordPress plugins?

A plugin is a small program that is installed along with WordPress in order to increase the functionality of your site in some way. They usually eliminate the need for back end programming and, as such, can be HUGE time savers.

Do you need WordPress plugins?

In short, no. But as I mentioned above, they can save you a ton of work and heartache when it comes to building and maintaining a blog. For most beginning bloggers (and some old timers), getting into the back end of their blog is terrifying - plugins make it so that’s almost entirely unnecessary.

Are there rules for WordPress plugins?

There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to plugins, but less is better generally. The down side to these fancy pieces of software is that too many of them can slow down the load time for your site which is no bueno. You want your entire site visible to readers in under 4 seconds (check your load time here) as a general rule.

What WordPress plugins should I be using?

Figuring out which plugins work for you takes a little time, but there are several I really love. Don’t be afraid to try different plugins until you find the right combination for you - just don’t forget to delete any that you aren’t using so they aren’t holding up your site load.

1. Akismet - This plugin is the ultimate in spam catchers. It’s free, easy to install and works amazingly well. I can probably count on one hand the number of times I’ve caught a mistake from Aksimet. Best of all, it comes pre-loaded with your WordPress installation - you just have to activate, grab a key from their site and it will get to work.

2. WordPress SEO by Yoast - This is not the only SEO plugin out there, but it’s definitely my favorite. I’ll be honest and say that I knew very little about SEO until very recently. This plugin has forced me to think about how I’m writing and how that translates to search engines. Nothing makes me happier than getting the green light from Yoast before I hit publish on a post.

3. ZipList Recipe Plugin - Ever wonder how your favorite food bloggers make their recipe posts look so neat and tidy? This is one way. I’ve been using this plugin since I discovered ZipList and it’s awesome. Just click the button, add your ingredients + instructions and ZipList will do the rest. An added benefit to this plugin in is that it gives folks the opportunity to save their recipes to Ziplist which can give them a little added exposure.

4. WP Super Cache - This plugin’s sole purpose is to speed up the end user load time. It allows for saving static pages rather than regenerating pages from scratch every time there is a request. Like I mentioned above, you want readers to have the quickest access possible to your site - this facilitates that.

5. CommentLuv - Back when I was on Blogger, this plugin is the thing I was probably most jealous about. I just think it has great potential for creating community among your followers plus it’s a nice way to passively share links to fellow bloggers’ posts. There are mixed opinions out there when it comes to this plugin- the down side being that it can slow down your site a bit. Overall, I think the pros outweigh the cons.

6. Editorial Calendar - There are days when I can barely remember if I put on deodorant, let alone know what I should be blogging about so when my friend Wendy suggested I try this editorial calendar plugin, I was all for it. As with any calendar, it only works when you use it but it works awesome when I do.

7. Fanciest Author Box - This is not a free plugin, but it’s worth the small fee you have to pay for it (or use one of the free options with less features). This box, which appears at the end of your blog posts, encourages engagement by sharing your latest posts on various social media outlets. Cool.

8. WP Greet Box - Ever notice the box that comes up when you click through from Facebook or Twitter welcoming you to a blog you may not have visited before? That’s what this plugin does. It’s a great opportunity to retain readers because it gives them a quick and easy way to subscribe.

So those are a few of my favorite WordPress plugins. Did I miss any that are on your list?

I get a little anxious when it comes to installing anything new on my site (really, ask my husband how I’m faring while I redesign), so this WordPress Plug-in tutorial is so helpful! You know what else is helpful: Coffee recipes. Really awesome coffee recipes that I need to try, like right now. And you will love this Little Red Riding Hood themed baby shower that Jess threw her sister. It makes me wish I had a pregnant friend because Oh! So super cute.