Current Wordpress plugins
For something different, I thought I’d list out the Wordpress plugins I use on this site and talk a little about them. All of them can be found via the links in the post or via the “Add New” tool in the Wordpress admin interface.
Activity Sparks: Over in the sidebar, you might see a little graph of recent posts and comments. I like this because it gives people an idea of recent activity without giving too much detail about the users themselves (thus violating some privacy). Also, graphs are cool.
Add Lightbox & Title / jQuery Lightbox
These two plugins actually come separately but work together. The first one sets the appropriate attributes on the images, the second actually contains the script that darkens the page and pops up the image. This only works on images that do not link elsewhere, though many of mine do.
Akismet: MUST-HAVE. Install it and stop worrying about comment spam.
Avatars: Because the defaults are so boring. It’s nice to jazz things up a bit. This way, even users who don’t select one of their own have a random one assigned that’s consistent every time they post but distinguishes them from other users.
Comment Notifier: For now, I haven’t installed any heavier comment plugins like IntenseDebate, but at least this way people can keep up via email with what happens on a post after they reply. Very few people subscribe to comment feeds, so until this area of blogging improves, we’re still feeling our way forward with primitive workarounds like this.
Cystats: Another statistics reporting plugin. Much more involved for administration than the regular Wordpress blog stats, but lots more data, too.
Mobilepress: MUST-HAVE. Seriously, people, this is the end of the decade. The web is going mobile, and your site should, too. This makes it easy if your site runs off Wordpress. Install it and forget about it.
Popular Posts: Shows, um, popular posts from your site. Requires the Wordpress.com Stats plugin. It’s nice for new visitors to get a quick view of what people like on your site, because those posts and pages should theoretically be among your best.
Wordpress.com Stats: MUST-HAVE. All the stats most of us really need. Shows you how people got to your site, what they read on it, and what they clicked on to leave.
WP-Polls: Much cleaner look than Polldaddy and does most of what the low-end blogger needs. I used it for my recent hull size poll and it seems to get the job done right now.
Please feel free to comment on plugins you use and like. More ideas never hurt!
Image credit wolkanca via Flickr
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Date: 2009-09-18
Categories: OOC