WordPress Plugins

WordPress Plugins add functionality and flexibility to WordPress Sites.

Over the years I have created a number of sites using WordPress and I have found that WordPress Plugins have made it possible to enrich the basic WordPress blogging platform.

So, which WordPress Plugins are useful?

The first point is that there are huge numbers of WordPress Plugins.

At this moment the WordPress Plugins Directory lists 19,466.

Tomorrow there will be more.

Some will become redundant as WordPress is updated and new WordPress Plugins are developed.

So, what does this mean to a photographer?

Once you have made the decision to use WordPress as a site building platform then WordPress Plugins come in two flavours.

Plugins which help you to run your site more efficiently, faster or more elegantly

Plugins which are are specifically aimed at photographers

Examples of the first are WordPress Plugins to

backup databases

prevent spam

improve SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

provide more editing and formatting options

In the second category are

photogallery and photo editing plugins

Every photographer needs some sort of gallery system and there are plugins for many well known gallery systems as well as plugins to show random images or connect to sites such as Flikr.

Over the years I have found my own favourites but they may not suit everyone.

For example, I don’t like to use Flash.

There are a number of reasons for this but I have three main issues:

Not everyone has Flash installed on their computer systems

Flash galleries can often take ages to load

Flash is not helpful for Search Engine Optimization

I like to make sure that visitors to my site can see my photos even if the fancy effects are turned off.

So, what are my favourite WordPress Plugins?

Here’s a list of those that I’m interested in at the moment.

In future posts I might highlight particular features of some of these.

If you’re a WordPress User, have a look at the WordPress Plugins and see if they can help you enhance your site.

I’d like to hear if you have any favourites or even negative experienes with WordPress Plugins.

Favourite WordPress Plugins

Add New Default Avatar    
Akismet    
Anthologize    
Bottom of every post    
CommentLuv    
Do Follow    
Exclude Pages from Navigation    
Favicon Manager    
FD Feedburner Plugin    
Fotomoto    
Google XML Sitemaps    
Growmap Anti Spambot Plugin    
List category posts
P3 (Plugin Performance Profiler    
Permalink Finder    
Redirection    
SEO No Duplicate    
Simple Lightbox    
Social Media Widget    
TinyMCE Advanced    
Unattach    
W3 Total Cache    
WordPress Database Backup    
WordPress Ping Optimizer    
WordPress SEO    
WP-Optimize    
WP-SpamFree    
WP Mobile Detector

My picture this week is of a Saint George’s Day Bandsman

You can see my picture of a Saint George’s Day Bandsman here