Must Have Wordpress Plugins

[jsavvy]

I've been thinking about using Wordpress for a friends website and am curious which plugins you must have or just use and why...and if there are any to steer clear of. Thanks for your help.

 

[2457244]

None to start with!

If you need one, search for it, test it.. Use it.

It's that simple.

 

[rctlr]

I would recommend a few:

Wordfence (Firewall, virus scanning, cache)
Akismet (comment spam blocking)
Jetpack (social, publishing tools, analytics)
WordPress Backup to Dropbox (as it says, backs up site content and database to dropbox)

 

[BrianBaughn]

I'm pretty sure you're going to have to figure it out for yourself since choice depends on layout and content, for the most part.

Search tip: skip trying the ones that haven't been updated within a reasonable time.

 

[RedTomato]

Have as few plugins as possible. The more you have the more fragile your website becomes, and the greater the risk of hacking or crashing or just falling apart at some point in the future. I have 5 on a corporate website, and I just uninstalled 2 to help with stability and security.

If deciding between some plugins, the ones that are used by vastly more people than the other ones are usually better.

 

[jsavvy]

Thanks for your replies. I've been looking closely at using wordfence and akismet. They both seem fairly useful.

 

[MacSince1985]

As stated above, start with a blank slate and add plugins on a as-needed basis. The ones I use regularly are:

• Contact Form 7
• Advanced Custom Field (free or Pro, depending on needs)
• TinyMCE Advanced
• BackWPup
• List category posts
• CC Child Pages

As a rule, I prefer plugins that do a specific task well than those that try to do everything and become bloated.

 

[RedTomato]

As a rule, I prefer plugins that do a specific task well than those that try to do everything and become bloated.

That's a very good point.

 

[Michael Anthony]

Depends on the use of your site, but I've run a fair few so I've come across some favourites.

-Cloudflare & Cloudflare Flexible SSL - needed to run correctly if you also use Cloudflare.
-bbPress - simple forum software.
-Google Analytics - Google analytics for every page.
-Google XML Sitemaps - don't need a Google account.
-PayPal Donation - if you need it.
-Visitors Traffic Real Time Statistics - simple 2 weeks of stats
-YOP Poll - simple poll plugin.
-AddToAny Share Buttons
-WP Security Audit Log - shows a log of security events.
-Akismet - cuts down on spam very well.
-WP Statistics - good statistics for your blog.
-iThemes Security - excellent security plugin, a must have in my opinion.
-Fast Secure Contact Form - a simple contact form.