One of WordPress’s greatest benefits is it’s massive library of available plugins.
There’s a great chance you can find a WordPress plugin for just about anything. Of the thousands of plugins out there, I consistenly use several for almost every WordPress project I tackle. Below are 5 of my favorites:
1) Advanced Custom Fields (ACF)
ACF is a great tool for building in editable regions for non-technical users. Most client sites will require some level of editing ability. While there are plenty of ways to hack in editing capabilities, ACF is by far one of the best tools out there. It’s easy to use and offers flexible configurations. This will definitely come in handy if you build a lot of client sites.
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/advanced-custom-fields/
2) Contact Form 7
It’s been around for ages and is yet to be bested by another contact form plugin. Almost every website requires some sort of contact form (if not several), and Contact Form 7 is hands-down the best option. It makes creating contact forms a breeze, and has built in validation. It also has a variety of add-ons for additional functionality.
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/contact-form-7/
3) WordPress SEO by Yoast
SEO is crucial for most online businesses, and doing it right is important. There are a bunch of SEO plugins out there, all claiming to be the best, when in reality they do very similar things. At the end of the day, I prefer SEO by Yoast. It’s built by Yoast himself, who’s been around the SEO [and web] world for a while now. It also doesn’t bloat your pages with un-needed meta tags and other things that some plugins annoyingly do.
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wordpress-seo/
4) Disqus
Most websites today have some sort of blog or news section that allows for user commenting. If you use the default WP commenting system you will be attacked by spammers in not time, trust me. Disqus is a great alternative. It’s free, has a huge user base, and is quick to setup. It also offers you the ability to generate additional revenue through it’s Discovery option, if you choose to do so.
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/disqus-comment-system/
5) Share Buttons by AddThis
Chances are your website will have content to share. AddThis is extremely popular and reliable, offering the ability to share your content to just about every platform – facebook, twitter, linkedin, pinterest, etc. It also gives you a variety of display options to fit your site’s theme.
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/addthis/
Summary:
These are just a few of the many useful plugins available. Hopefully they help you with your future projects!
Ali Jafarian
Ali is a family man, conscious leader and serial entrepreneur with a deep drive to create. He writes, designs and builds things to inspire the real human experience.
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