Hey everyone! You may or may not know by now that I have become quite addicted to WordPress Plugins. They have made the transition to WP that much more fun and exciting. The WP interface may be more involved than other platforms, but once you get the hang of it, it becomes a breeze. Better for time and stress! Plugins only add to this, making the entire WP package an enjoyable one. Of course, plugins are only for self-hosted blogs, which you should do if you switch to WP. (It’s pointless to switch to .com, as you are still under restrictions and such.)
I want to share with you my favorite plugins, and I hope that you share with me some that I am missing out on. 
Goodies
- Copyrighted Post: This adds a little copyright line at the end of the post. I especially love it because it adds in the name of the post creator. So my associate reviewer’s name will be inserted when they post a review.
- Easy Spoiler: I recently used this plugin in my Shine review. You can see it in action. Pretty nifty.
- Jetpack by WordPress: I love the spell check feature!
- Pick Giveaway Winner: For those who want to keep giveaways simple with no form or Rafflecopter, you can have people enter with a comment. This randomizes comments and spits out a winner. SO easy.
- Total Social Counter: It displays your Feedburner, Facebook and Twitter followers, though I can’t get the Facebook link to work. *sigh*
- ELI’s Related Posts Footer Links and Widget: I’m still debating on this one. It add related links based on Categories or Tags to the bottom of your posts. It seems to work ok, but not sure it’s worth the clutter…
Must-Haves
- Askimet and Anti-Spam Bee: Together, these spam catcher have pretty much eradicated spam comments. Win!
- Broken Link Checker: VERY important. I am STILL fixing links. I work on them when I have a spare moment. Of course, I’m reformatting all my older reviews to match new style, too, which is why it’s taking so frakking long. Yes, I like to torture myself.
- Google Analytics and Official StatCounter Plugin: I use them both. So what. Stats are important!
- Share a Draft: Hella important when working with another person(s), or you want to get someone’s opinion on formatting, etc.
- Sociable: Because sharing is caring!
- Tweet Old Posts: In LOVE with this one! It tweets old posts, and I’m actually getting views and comments from it. You can set the time frame, such as 180 days back, how often (I do every 6 hours) and exclude certain categories. I also have it set to Tweet {Blog Rewind} before each tweet so people know it’s older. I LOVE IT.
- WordPress SEO: This allows you to insert SEO info easily on each post.
- WP to Twitter: Tweets every new post!
- WPTouch: Formats your blog to be mobile-device friendly.
THE ULTIMATE
- Duplicate Post: I could not blog without this sucker! You just click New Draft and it duplicates the post, which you can just insert the new information. Saves SO much time with review templates and all that jazz. I do wish the Clone function could be disabled, however. I hate it. It’s useless. It clones the post and publishes it immediately. Someone please explain this?
- WordPress Editorial Calendar: I’m an organized person and use written calendars because I’m a nerd and like to color code. However, THIS plugin has pretty much changed my blogging organization. I really could not blog without it now. You can view your posts on a calendar, instead of a long list which drives me insane. You can also edit and create from the calendar. And you can drag and drop. It. Is. BOMB.
So…discover anything new? I hope something was useful to someone! Also, what you got? Share away!
© 2012, Smash Attack Reads. All rights reserved.
| Leave a Reply | |
|
|
|
Hi, I’m the developer of Duplicate Post. Thank you for your appreciation! The “Clone” function was requested by some users, I see it as a sort of workaround for the lack of a bulk action (with which you could select a number of posts and clone them all at once, just as you can put them in the trashbin). It could be handy in some cases, where you have to change only titles, dates, categories, tags and the like.
Thanks for stopping by! Thanks for the explanation of Cloning feature.
When I left Blogger I switched to WordPress.com b/c self-hosting a blog just sounded way too hard and expensive… I kind of regret that now. I want to use plug-ins
And it annoys me that they won’t allow plug-ins on the .com sites. Ugh. Someday I’ll make yet another switch…
Yea, there isn’t a huge difference when switching from Blogger to WP.com, although the WP interface is nicer. Self-hosting isn’t all the horror people think it is, and you can always hire someone to assist with the move. I have a great contact who has helped many bloggers.
I have WP touch, but I need to activate it and get it working.
The WP SEO plugin also allows you to add anything to the footer of your RSS feed, so that it where I added my copyright. It gives you options to add the author of the post and a link to it, etc.
I guess I have a different SEO thing. Hmmm…
I did just realize the WP Twitter function allows you to customize the tweet ahead of time, if you wish.
No, we actually have the same SEO plugin. You have to go to the RSS section. It only shows up in your feed, though.
Oh! And I think one of my favorites (though I don’t know how well it is received beyond the first few notifications) is the comment reply notification plugin, the one that sends an email when someone replies to your specific comment. I’ve definitely gotten more people coming back to my site to continue conversation that way, and I like knowing that someone will KNOW when I’ve responded and be able to see my response without coming back to check.
I absolutely love your comment thingie. I discontinued using it when I got the issues with my comment notifications fixed, but I should use it just to customize a message…
I’ve had two different comment reply notifications: the one I have now, and the one that was all messed up and gave wrong notifications to the wrong people.
I use this one: http://theme10.com/comment-reply-notification/ It’s very simple to set up and customize.
I like when I hear about a giraffe shifter stalking me
Thanks for all the info! I was trying to figure out how people were autoTweeting their older posts. Now I know.
The secret is out!
Have I told you lately how much I love you?? No? Thank you so much for this!!! Paper Wings is working my template as we speak so it’s only a few more weeks before I’m over on WP. Well, technically, I’m over there, my blog just isn’t yet
(I have it up on GoDaddy to play with but nothing is in it, I love GoDaddy, they treat me right!) I can’t wait!!!!!
GoDaddy helped me out GREATLY when I was migrating my blog from Blogger to WordPress. There were a few issues getting the domain name released. Their support was awesome.
Jetpack is my BFF!
You were not lying about the WordPress Calendar! That plug-in has made my life so much easier! Thanks for telling me about it! And I just downloaded the WP to Twitter plugins and the Tweet Old Posts. I hope that I did it right. The whole process was a little complicated, lol.
Thanks for sharing!
So happy the calendar plugin works for you. It pretty much kicks ass and takes names.
I lure your easy spoiler plug in and that pick a giveaway winner sounds awesome too.
This. is. brilliant. I’m actually starting a new series on my blog tomorrow where I’ll focus on exactly this type of stuff. I recently discovered the “Wp-Types” and “WP-Views” plugins. “WP-Views” costs some money but it is seriously amazeballs. I did a screencast on what it does and how to use it which will go up with tomorrow’s post. You had quite a few I hadn’t heard of and will be installing now. Thanks for this!
I have not heard of those plugins. I’m curious!
I posted a tutorial/show & tell type of webcast on how I use them. You can see it by Clicking Here. They’ve simplified how I post my reviews and memes.
[...] of plugins, be sure to check out Smash Attack Reads post on her favorite plugins. I found a few that I didn’t have and they are awesome! (The calendar widget alone is [...]
Thank you for this post! I’ve been looking for a good calendar plug-in off and on and never found one I liked but this one looks really great!
That calendar plugin is a LIFE/BLOG saver.
Awesome list! Thank you for posting. I just made the switch to self-hosted WP a while back and I’m learning so much! I appreciate you sharing your faves
I LOVE WORD PRESS! So happy I made the switch.
Ohmygosh, the sight of that blog post calendar is making my heart go pitter-pat. o.o
Thank you for this list! I love the pick a winner plugin! I added the calendar that is super helpful too!
I have a calendar and to-do list plugin that helps with planning but I love being able to pull posts by date on that plugin!
What ones do I use that I love:
Cleverness To-Do List (simple plugin for backend to-do list but I am a list maker)
ZipList Recipe Plugin (This one is great for recipes)
Slidedeck (This one is great for creating image slides)
ZOMG! A LIST MAKER! I love you Felicia! ♥
[...] Smash Attack Ash put together a list of her favorite WP plugins. [...]
I love plug ins too! Thanks for posting!
[...] to several authors who have already traveled that route.Smash talked about WordPress plugins in one of the most useful posts ever. I think Duplicate Post might just be the best thing since sliced bread.Bookish Comforts has [...]
[...] will be writing a post about my transition to wordpress self-hosted, but until then, check out this delicious list of wordpress plug-ins if you’ve recently [...]
Amanda told me about this post. I think I’ve fallen in love with you all over again!
YAY! Your love is needed.
The calendar plug in is my favorite, methinks. I cannot live without it now.
[...] Twirps has followed in Smash’s footsteps and published their own list of Awesome [...]