Yesterday I had an email from an advertiser asking if their ads could just appear on my homepage, and I knew my theme couldn’t do it so I’d have to hunt for a plugin. Now there are 18,964 WordPress plugins at the moment – where to start? I tried a couple of custom sidebar ones and they were crap and then on the Parent Blogger Facebook site Heather recommended ‘Widget Logic’. It was perfect and did exactly what I wanted it to in seconds – thanks Heather!
And that got me thinking, what are your favourite plugins? What could your blog not function without? What little gems do you use? I don’t do a whole lot that is fancy on here, but the ones I’ve used and like are:
Akismet – Keeps away the crazy Spam.
Background Patterns – lots of subtle background patterns you can install in seconds.
Tabber Widget – Add tabs to your sidebar.
Ultimate Thesis Theme Options – Brillant for adding widget areas to Thesis Theme.
WP Google Fonts – Adds Google fonts to where ever you want them on your page.
WP-Protect – You can stop right clicking and protect your blog.
WPtouch – Mobilises your site for mobile devices.
Instagram for WordPress – Nice plugin for showing off your photos in the sidebar.
GetMeCooking Recipe Template – nice for adding recipes to your site.
Linkwithin – not a plugin but a bit of code you can get from their site which generates posts which maybe of interest to your readers.
What are your favourite plugins? I can’t wait to hear about some new ones so I can play with them 
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Ooooo – I hadn’t heard of the WP Protect one. Will check that out!
Manda´s last Post ..The Role Of The Modern Grandparent
Good post. Will be interested to hear what everyone else suggests
21st Century Mummy´s last Post ..Listography: Top 5 Beauty Products
Hello.
Yes this can they do, they do this sometimes if the plugin is free. I also got that and i deleted the plugin.
Mark
I got that email too and they sent me through Widget Logic which like you say does the trick handsomely. I use WP protect too but if you use Rafflecopter for competitions it won’t let readers paste their tweet etc on it
I’m going to have a look at the ones you’ve mentioned. I’m currently using Shareaholic but I’d like to find the strip down the side like I can see on your page.
Linkwithin is useful for helping people to click randomly on extra posts they might not have other found too
Great post, I’ll subscribe to comments to see what others come up with
Mari´s last Post ..Hinterland – Caroline Brothers by Bloomsbury
I am so glad to find this post. I’ll be using wordpress instead of drupal for my next website, for better readability. Thanks and good work!
I’ve been watching this with interest having just gone self hosted. I still have a *lot* to do but I’ve been amazed at the sheer number of plugin’s that are available. It’s a bit of a maze out there!
Fishfingers for tea´s last Post ..Easter Rocky Road and Little Bunny Chocolate Cakes.
I’ve just installed the All in one SEO plugin after it was recommended and I’m interested to see if this helps my very new blog on the SEO front. Like Akismet too, plus the Google Analytics Dashboard, and of course, LinkWithin. Might play around with the Backgrounds and Google Fonts plugins after you’ve mentioned them. Love to tweak!
Jen´s last Post ..Birthday Meme
Great post! I always love hearing other people’s favourite plugins.
I love:
Vaultpress (real-time backups, monthly subscription cost)
JetPack (nice site stats)
Comment Reply Notification – adds a tick box to your comment box so people can choose to be emailed of replies to their comment)
NoFollowR (shows which of your links are Follow or No Follow and makes it really easy to change)
WordPress Dastabase Backup (automates backup of your database)
I’m now going to have a play with Utlimate Thesis Theme Options as I hadn’t heard of that one before
geekmummy´s last Post ..Meal Planning Monday 09/04/2012
WP-Protect and Akismet are two of the most important plugins in my WordPress blog.
*bookmarks page* I’ve just moved over to self-hosted from Wordpress and my mind is reeling with all the different plugins available. This post is HUGELY helpful. Thank you!
Great post. I am always looking for new plugins and was trying to find the one that stops people right clicking on photos
x
Mum2BabyInsomniac´s last Post ..Vomit and Twitter
I really like WPAnalytics. Made the whole job of getting webmaster tools and analytics set up a lot more quickly and easily.
James Newhouse´s last Post ..Bee Fly in Flitwick
Thank you for this helpful info! I am a rookie learning new stuff everyday!
Pinning this (:
Blessed Beyond a Doubt´s last Post ..FREE Spelling Lists – Language Arts CENTSible Homeschooling
So pleased it was helpful. Sorry I’ve taken pinning off but I’ll re add it tomorrow
A few there I not used. I would add commentluv. I just love being able to so easily see other people posts to read.
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