Favorite

PluginsA collection of my favorite plugins

and how to use them

Laura Hartwig

• WordPress Developer

• WPDecoder.com

• This presentation can be found:

slideshare.net/LauraHartwig/favorite-wordpress-plugins-2016

Extend the

functionality of

your site

Not available in Wix, Weebly, or Square Space

A Word

of Warning

Conflicts

Security Issues

Updates

Types of Plugins

• Free Plugins

• Paid Plugins

• Freemium Plugins

Free Plugins can be found a thttps://wordpress.org/plugins/

Free Plugins

These plugins have been somewhat vetted

Free Plugins:

Things to look for

Rating

Installs

Last

Update

Author

Also look for support

Check for replies, number of requests and if items have been resolved

And is there a

Freemium Option?

Freemium Plugins:

Things to look for

• Which features are paid?

• Support available?

• Include updates?

Paid Plugins:

Things to look for• Author reputation

• Online reviews

• Support

• Longevity

• How long does subscription last?

Installing Free Plugins:

Installing Plugins

Plugins > Add New > Search for Plugin name

> Click Install > Click Activate

Installing Paid Plugins:

Pay for plugin and download it.

Check to see if it is just plugin file or comes with documentation. You might need to extract the file.

Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin

> Click Install > Click Activate

Favorite Plugins

Comments

Social

SEOSecurity

Admin

1. Anti-spam

1. All in One SEO/ Yoast

2. Redirection (for redoing sites)

3. Google XML Sitemaps

1. AddToAny Share Buttons

2. Simple Social Icons

1. Wordfence2. Captcha by BestWebSoft

1. BackupBuddy

2. Coming soon and Maintenance mode

Security

This plugin can be difficult to setup, but if you just install it and activate it “as is”, your site will be more secure.

Some features include:

• Firewall

• Blocking of known attackers

• Login security

• Security scanning

Note: anytime you install a security plugin, make sure you have cpanel or FTP access to your site.

Wordfence

Security

Captcha by BestWebSoft

Simple math question

Google Captcha (reCAPTCHA)

by BestWebSoftEasier, but sometimes

You also have to do this:

Social

For people to share your content on THEIR social networks

• Many social options

• Use their styled buttons or your own

• Choose where to display your share buttons

AddToAny

Share Buttons

Simple Social Icons

• Bloglovin• Dribbble• Email• Facebook• Flickr• Github• Google+• Instagram

• LinkedIn• Pinterest• RSS• StumbleUpon• Tumblr• Twitter• Vimeo• YouTube

Add links to your own social media in colors that match your site.

Limited to these sites:

Comments

Anti-Spam

Upload it and it works– no setup required. Commenters don’t have to complete captcha

Note: Doesn’t work with JetPack Comments

SEO

All in One SEO/ YoastBoth of these have too many options to go over today, but basically they give you a place to put the Google title & description and some meta tags.

RedirectionIf you are updating an existing site, this plugin is a MUST. Don’t let customers suffer through 404 pages because your .html endings no longer work.

Google XML Sitemaps

This is the one for Google. It does an excellent job of making sure the right pages are indexed.

Admin

BackupBuddy (Paid)Creating backups of your site is essential. If you are a developer, BackupBuddy is well worth the investment.

If you only have one or two sites, you might want to try UpDraftPlus

Coming soon and

Maintenance modeThis is great for when you want to start getting some SEO history on your site, but aren’t ready for people to see your unfinished site yet.

What are

your favorite

plugins?

Questions?

Thank You

• This presentation can be found:

– slideshare.net/LauraHartwig/favorite-wordpress-plugins-2016

– See all my favorite plugins:

– wpdecoder.com/plugins/recommended-plugins/

Contact Me at LauraHartwigDesign@gmail.com