12 useful WordPress plugins – 2011

5th August 2011 19 Replies Kaushal Gandhi

WordPress is very popular among bloggers and writers today. One of the reasons is because it offers many of plugins that can help make your blog even better!

There are an almost endless number of plugins you can find on WordPress, but it is important to limit your use to a few, as too many plugins can have an adverse effect on your host. The question is, which ones should you use?

Here are some options that can certainly be useful:-

1) Google XML- Sitemaps

This helps search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Ask to index your blog and informs them when you add new posts. These maps also help users to browse well through your various posts and find what they are looking for.

2) DiggDigg

Through this plugin you can insert buttons of various social networking sites on your WordPress site like Facebook like, Facebook share, Twitter, Digg, LinkedIn and many others.

3) Insights

Insights help you add more information to your blog. You can insert Flickr images, YouTube videos and interlink various posts to your advantage.

4) WP Super Cache

WP Super Cache converts WordPress PHP scripts into html files, thus reducing load and down time.

5) WP-DBManager

This plugin helps you manage your blog by providing ways to repair, backup, restore, and optimize database.

6) Akismet

Akismet helps you keep a check on spam by checking your blog comments and submitting to your admin such comments for review.

7) YoastWordPress SEO

This SEO plugin helps bloggers in optimising page titles and keywords into XML sitemaps.

8) Contact Form 7

Through Contact Form 7, users can create, manage and customize contact forms on their blog.

9) LinkWithin

This plugin adds thumbnails of relevant posts on your blog.

10) Yet Another Related Post Plugin (YARPP)

YARPP provides information of pages and posts which are related to your new entry thus giving the reader a chance to read more matter on the topic.

11) WP Page Navi

It helps in navigating through the site and provides the various posts with page numbers.

12) Google Analytics Plugin

Google Analytics is a good tool to track your blog and thus access information like outbound clicks, page views, and other metadata.

Whether you are a leisure blogger or a blogger for money, it is important to be familiar with and equip yourself with necessary plugins, as these can make your thought-sharing experience easier and more convenient.

So continue sharing relevant information and happy blogging!

19 thoughts on “12 useful WordPress plugins – 2011”

Chadrack@SEO Tips

5th August 2011 at 7:51pm

Frankly, it’s the plugins that make wordpress such a super blogging platform. There is just something for everything.

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Alan Tay@IT Security

6th August 2011 at 7:41am

woooots!

Thanks for the plugins list. I had like 70% of them installed, but i do feel the remaining 30% of them are what I am lacking off. Gonna take a run on those list again on my site. And by the way, i uses SexyBookmark instead of DiggDigg…is there any comparison study between them?

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Naser @ Best Tips For Blogging

6th August 2011 at 5:15pm

Thanks for sharing this list of plugins Chris. Akismet is a paid plugin right? It is only free for personal blogs.

Reply
- Christopher (admin team)
  
  6th August 2011 at 5:34pm
  
  2 things
  1 – it’s Christopher not Chris 😛
  2 – I am just one of many writers for Technology Bloggers, Kaushal wrote this post 🙂
  
  As for Akismet, I am not sure, I would have thought you would be able to use it on your blog…
  
  Thanks for the comment 🙂
  Christopher – Admin Team
  
  Reply
  - Naser @ Best Tips For Blogging
    
    6th August 2011 at 5:41pm
    
    Ok Christopher, I just called you Chris for short : D
    As to my knowledge, to use Akismet, we need a key and the key is free for personal blogs and must be purchased for commercial blogs.
    
    Reply
Thomas

8th August 2011 at 1:27pm

Very useful plug ins. Google sitemaps is definitely the best. 🙂

Reply
- Christopher (admin team)
  
  8th August 2011 at 1:39pm
  
  I personally like Digg Digg 🙂
  
  Thanks for the comment!
  Christopher – Admin Team
  
  Reply
Amit

8th August 2011 at 5:16pm

Everyone praises Contact Form 7, but can’t really understand why. From what i remember it’s difficult to configure and the results are buggy. After all, a contact form is just a couple input fields, doesn’t have to be a Ferrari.

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- Christopher (admin team)
  
  9th August 2011 at 5:49pm
  
  True, but if it’s looks good isn’t that a bonus?
  
  We use it here Amit, and I can’t remember ever having problems with it.
  
  Reply
Nicholas Scott@Press Release Distribution

10th August 2011 at 9:49am

“Akismet” can be a useful plugin for word press . It is for detecting the spam blog comments . I personally really like this plugin ,it am using it in my word press blog

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- Christopher (admin team)
  
  10th August 2011 at 12:57pm
  
  It’s good, but I prefer GASP. However by using both Akismet and GASP on Technology Bloggers, we get relatively little spam.
  
  Thanks for the comment Nicholas, it’s always great to see someone new!
  Christopher – Admin Team
  
  Reply
Sofia @ Volunteering in Africa

10th August 2011 at 5:01pm

Hi,

Great list of plugins. 🙂 Plugins are what separates WordPress from other blogging platforms. One of my favorites is the SEOpressor (not included in your list). It helps me optimize a post more effectively.

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- Christopher (admin team)
  
  11th August 2011 at 10:05am
  
  I prefer to steer clear of SEO plugins, as I think that they can do more harm than good in most cases.
  
  It seems to be working for Technology Bloggers anyway 😉
  
  Thanks for the comment!
  Christopher – Admin Team
  
  Reply
Kaushal Gandhi

12th August 2011 at 5:33am

Thanks all for wonderful comments

Thanks Chris for replying.

Reply
- Christopher (admin team)
  
  12th August 2011 at 6:15pm
  
  To the former: if you write a good post, I guess you have to suffer then 😉
  
  To the latter: you are most welcome, feel free to reply to any individuals addressing you, or any of those comments that you just feel need a reply from you. Even if I have already replied.
  
  We have lovely commenters here Kaushal, they don’t bite; honest 🙂
  
  Reply
Sprinkler Buff

17th August 2011 at 10:17pm

Now that you mention it, having links or snippets of “related posts” at the ready for readers is an excellent idea. I will check out YARPP and LinkWithin and see for myself! I am looking for the best Google+ profile plugin that displays my profile pic and the Add to Circles button. Any suggestions?

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Maria@Certified Nursing Assistant

5th September 2011 at 4:03am

Great list of WP plugins here! What I like most is the SEO related plugin and the commenting related plugin. These two are the most important plugins for me to improve and to protect my site respectively. I might check the Yoast WPSEO.

Reply
Jarrod Frenzel@Carlton Woods homes for sale

26th September 2011 at 8:00pm

I must say that this list is pretty much the essential WP plugins every blog or WP website should have. Every successful blog has definitely sought after the help of these plugins, one way or the other. You gotta love WordPress for these plugins.

Reply
Danial Wilson

8th May 2018 at 5:37am

Thanks for sharing. I wanna suggest you one more lesser known but helpful WordPress plugin which is User Blocker. It can block or unblock user accounts quickly and effortlessly by their roll or username for specific day & time OR date range Or permanently.

Reply

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19 thoughts on “12 useful WordPress plugins – 2011”

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