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I’ve said it before. I’m a bit of a plugin junkie. I know that having too many slows down a website. I’ve tried to cut down (and I have!). But, in addition to the essential tools that are on most bloggers’ plugin list, I have some non-essential WordPress plugins that I love, find very useful, and can’t seem to do without.
Anti-Spam
I know that Akismet is the standard for spam control, and yes, I use it. That being said, last year I had many issues of spam comments getting through and thousands of comments in my spam folder. I don’t like to delete them all until I make sure that a good comment wasn’t accidentally directed there, but I certainly don’t have the time to go through all that junk to fish out one comment. Thank goodness for Anti-Spam. I added it, in addition to Akismet, at the suggestion of another blogger, and now I’m in comment heaven. It is very rare that a spam comment gets through, but the best part is I never see them. They’re just gone. It does catch an occasional good comment, but that is so easy to fix now.
Click to Tweet
Co-Schedule‘s free social media plugin Click to Tweet has become almost an essential for sharing your posts to Twitter. I love it because I can personalize my tweets for others to share, instead of just a post title as most sharing plugins do. I can also add hashtags, tag other Twitter accounts, and sprinkle several tweets throughout my blog post.
SumoMe
I have the free version of SumoMe, and it is essentially seven (of which I use three) plugins in one. I use Listbuilder, which is a customized popup for email subscriptions (which integrates with MailChimp and many other newsletter services). Smartbar does essentially the same thing. It is a floating bar that can be placed at the top or bottom of your page and collects email subscriptions. And my new favorite is Image Sharer, which makes it simple for anyone to share your pictures, not only to Pinterest, but to Twitter, Facebook, and Yummly. Just hover your mouse over the picture below and the Image Sharer will appear in the top right corner (you can place it where you want on your picture). You can also set it to use the post title or alternate text when someone shares, another useful feature.
The downside of SumoMe is the little blue banner that sits in the lower right corner (I assume you can see it too). It can be minimized by clicking on the X but the only way to get rid of it completely is to pay for the full version. If that is something that bothers you, you probably would be better off with different listbuilding and sharing plugins.
Better Delete Revision
Did you know that every time you save a post (which I do frequently because I have a phobia about losing all of my work) WordPress saves a copy? Eventually that can add up to a lot of extra junk in your database. Better Delete Revision clears out all of those old revisions without touching your most current published, draft, or scheduled posts.
Broken Link Checker
Broken Link Checker monitors your posts, comments, pages, blogroll, and other custom fields for broken links, images, and redirects, and notifies you when it finds them. This is useful for older posts, when old websites have disappeared, or when pages that you may have linked to have changed. It’s much easier than going back through hundreds of old posts to check for bad links. You can fix the problem directly within Broken Link Checker too, so you don’t have to edit a post or delete a comment.
Add Signature
I can’t help it. I love that little signature at the end of each of my posts. Add Signature lets you choose the font, color, and what you want to say to close out each post.
Plus a (Paid) Bonus for Genesis Users
I should have said a bonus for Genesis users who like to play around with their own theme settings. Genesis Design Palette Pro is not free. In fact, at $49 it’s the most I’ve paid for a plugin (I actually got a deal and saved 30% by purchasing through StudioPress when it first came out), but if you’re like me and enjoy doing your own thing with the look of your blog, but are clueless about HTML and CSS, this plugin is perfect for you.
As they say on their website, “Quickly and easily modify the look of each area of your site, including header, navigation, content area, sidebars, and footers by changing colors, fonts, images, backgrounds, margins and padding– And do it without writing a single line of code.”
That’s my list of favorite plugins. They’re not essential, but they’re important. They make Coach Debbie Runs run more smoothly, and make it easier for me to share my posts and maintain my blog.
I’m linking up with Debbie in Shape for Tip Tuesday, Nanna’s Wisdom for Wednesday Wisdom, xoxo Rebecca for That Friday Blog Hop, and with Kathleen for the Blog Booster Party.
What are your favorite non-essential plugins? I probably shouldn’t ask because I already have more than enough, but I really need want to know.
I need to check the last 2 plugins you mention, Debbie. I also hit save A LOT. There is surely a lot of junk there after all these years.
Thank you for linking up with #TipTuesday. Unfortunately, I’ll not be co-hosting Wednesday Wisdom anymore (I have been forcing myself too much and I need to cut down some commitments). But please visit http://nannaswisdom.com . She is the host and the link party is now up and running.
Thank you very much for joining #TipTuesday!
Thank you. I changed my wording and linked up with Nanna’s Wisdom. Now to check out your Evernote post. I really need to use it and I just somehow earned a free upgrade (with Samsung points I think!).
Most Essential WordPress Plugin
http://www.baatkar.com/2015/10/most-essential-wordpress-plugins.html
Thanks
I would like to check out SumoMe it is new for me.
I like it a lot. I have a lot of new subscribers since I’ve been using it.
I do love how your “add signature” looks as well.
hmmm you may have given me an idea—and I shall give you all the credit :0)
Why thank you! I just the little signature makes it feel more personal.
Hi Debbie, this was a great post with great ideas. I use wordpress.com so I can’t use most of these, but I added the click to tweet to my consulting website via wordpress.org. Point of info for you, the add signature has not been updated in 2 years and not compatible with wordpress. Now I just have to figure out click to tweet. Thanks again!
Thanks Terri. Click to Tweet is pretty easy to figure out. I’m no genius about all of this stuff, believe me, and I figured it out.
I did see that Add Signature hadn’t been updated for a while, but I have the most recent version of WordPress and it still works for me.
Ohhh I need the delete post plug in! I save all the time. #Paranoid.
I know! That moment when suddenly your page is almost blank because of something, and you panic, but then the little note at the top that says that the backup has a different version and life is good again? Priceless!
I need to do the delete blog post thing. And I would love a signature. But then I’d have to choose one!
You get to create one! It’s been a while since I did mine, but I believe you make a jpg with your choice of font, wording, etc. Though I guess you still have to make choices. 🙂
I literally just switched to wordpress and need all of these tips!! ridiculous it took me 7 years to do it :0) but why fix what’s working!
Aha! That’s what’s different. Your page does load faster. I though you were already an expert :-).
i need the broken link checker! does it just delete the link if it’s broken?
No, it gives you options. You can fix it, delete it or unlink it (or ignore it).
SumoMe and Better Delete Revision sound great!! I love plugins too. Thank you for sharing your list. 🙂
I really like SumoMe. It has increased my mailing list (something I’ve pretty much ignored until recently). And I love the photo share capability. Using photos on tweets is all the rage right now, and this makes it easy.
This is awesome! Thank you for sharing these plug ins.. I have to check them all out because they all look great!
You’re welcome! I hope you enjoy!
I am a plug-in junkie as well although I have not heard of Better Revision Delete and I definitely need to check out the signature one…I love that little personalized added touch to the end of the posts!
That’s why I really love that little signature. It makes it feel more personal.
Thanks so much for sharing this! I definitely plan to use many of these! I am still learning about the blogging world in wordpress!
Have fun but be careful! Plugins (and widgets) can be so much fun but too many can really slow your site down.
Oh my goodness, I get so much spam. It’s ridiculous. I’ll have to check out that plug-in. There are a lot of great suggests on this list. I’m pinning it!
Adding the Anti-Spam made a HUGE difference. I get close to zero now, and I was getting hundreds a day before. Yes, Akismet caught most of them but it was still annoying and time consuming to go through them all.
I have actually been undergoing a huge blog audit this past month and have deleted a bunch of plugins that have been slowing down the site! I am officially scared to add any lol, but I want the signature one! 😉
I remember you saying that. Yes, it’s true that they can slow down your site. Though I find that so many people have a zillion ads on their site and I think that slows it down even more. That or my old computer just can’t keep up 🙂
I’m so bad about plugins, so this is super helpful. Thank you!!!
You’re welcome. Plugins are fun, but don’t be like me and get too many. They really slow down your site 🙂
Thank you for explaining the SumoMe plugin. My favorite is Co-schedule, an editorial calendar and social media scheduler in one. I do like the signature… hmm I’ll have to think about it.
#Wednesday’sWisdom
I’ve thought about using Co-Schedule, but up to this time I’m really bad at using an editorial calendar, so I don’t want to pay for something I don’t use. I’m experimenting using the WP editorial calendar, and if I can commit to that, I might just go for Co-Schedule.
That’s a great list – I should probably check out the broken link checker.
A couple of my favorite non-essentials are:
1. Publish Confirm – this useful if you’ve ever clicked the Publish button instead of Save as Draft by accident (like me)
2. Shortcodes Ultimate – for a free plugin, you can really do a lot with this one
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for sharing. Yes, I’ve hit the publish button too early before. Oops! And the other sounds interesting, though just the word “shortcode” scares me a little 🙂
I love plugins. I’ll have to download them and check it out!
I hope you enjoy them. Plugins are a lot of fun.
Oh I really needed this post! They are definitely 6 plugins we can’t do without. I need to do an audit on my plug ins and there are some on your list that I don’t have but I can see will be invaluable. Thanks for sharing with us at #WednesdaysWisdom
I do audits on my plugins too from time to time, mostly to try to weed some out. I tend to get so many! 🙂
THX Debbie! I have actually checked a couple of these out but not attempted – I need hubby help & he has been swamped.WHat a great post!!!!
You should have him show you when he gets time. It’s really not too hard. What’s hard is knowing when to stop 🙂
I need Better Delete Revision. I didn’t know such a plugin exists. Some of my pages are years old and are updated as I have more information to add. I bet some of them have 25+ revisions. I’m going to add it right now. Thanks for the suggestions.
When I first got it I’d already been blogging for about 5 years. That first delete was huge!
I love Click to Tweet. I just need to remember to use it more often.
I used to forget all the time when I first got it and I’d have to go back and add it in later. I’m getting better with that now 🙂
Better Delete Revision and Add Signature are going on my blog to do list… thank you so much for the suggestions- This was a great compilation!! xoxo
I was reminded above that the Add Signature plugin will tell you that it hasn’t been updated for 2 years, however it I have the most up-to-date version of WordPress and it works fine for me.
You’re so good… adding these to my to do list!
🙂
Thanks
This is a great list. Thanks for sharing. I am going to have to try these out.
Thank you! I hope you enjoy them.
Hi there! Some Blog Booster Love from me :). I already have installed 2 of these plugins, SumoMe and AntiSpam, and I think I will search the others. I think are very useful…and I love the signature one!
Regards,
Sinziana Romanescu
Thanks for stopping by! I love my signature :-).
What a good list of plugins, I will look into delete revision and Image sharer, they look very useful. Thanks so much for sharing these great finds on Fridays #BlogBoosterParty #12
Kathleen
I love the image sharer. I’m not sure how much it get used yet by readers, because I think it’s pretty new and they’re not used to sharing images much beyond Pinterest, but I love it because it makes it easy to share photos to Twitter, which is the rage right now.
Hi, Debbie! This is a very helpful list! I love Click to Tweet, but that is the only one of these I am currently using (though I have way too many on my site that need to be deleted!). I have been wanting a signature, so I am excited about that one. The one I most need need, though, is the Revision Delete! There are so many plugins available it becomes overwhelming, so thanks for narrowing this down for me! Pinning and adding to my “To Do ASAP” list! 🙂 #FridayBlogBooster
There really are so many plugins. I think I may have tried them all! 🙂 Kidding, but I do love my plug ins. Thanks for stopping by!
I like the click tweet idea. I’m working on the transition here soon to WordPress. So this post is handh
Click to Tweet has almost reached required level. I love it, it makes it so easy for your readers to share (and to say what you want!).
This is very useful, thanks. I have been seeing the direct linking boxes and wondered how to do that! I also love the pretty signature.
The Click to Tweet plugin is so great. Like I said in the post, you get to choose what people will tweet. (I assume that’s what you meant by direct linking boxes 🙂 ).
Thanks Debbie! Great tips as always. I use a few of these plugins as well and really like it but I am going to put the other ones you mentioned on my list to check out. I love plugins, they are great for non-coding people like myself!
Debbie, me again. Congrats for wining the Blogger Pro.
I’m here from #FridayBlogBooster.
I did not know about Better Delete Revision, but I am so glad I do now. I also save/revise a million times so this will definitely come in handy. Thanks!
This so much handy thanks for your suggestions…
You’re welcome! I hope you find something that you like!
Anti-Spam and the plugin to add the signature are my favorites. I use the anti-spam plugin on all my blogs where as the signature plugin only on my personal blog. It doesn’t go well with my other blogs. I’ll try out SumoMe today.
I think you’ll enjoy SumoMe. It has a lot of options.
I started using SumoMe’s list builder after reading your post and after a week, I’m totally loving it. Thanks for the suggestion, Debbie!
It’s fun, isn’t it? Lots of different tools. They have regular share buttons too, I believe, but I haven’t tried them. Yet.
Hey! Thank you for sharing this on #SITSsharefest 🙂
I have a huge problem with plugins… As in…. 31 plugins at the moment..
I know that’s horrible lol. And I go through and delete some every so often, but the ones I have now, I use.
If you like the delete revision plugin, then you should definitely check out WP AdminTools! The number of features it has is unbelievable… As for the database clean up section, it’s a “one-click delete” for Revisions, Auto drafts, trashed items, spam comments, and open comments… But they have a SEO section, a “clean up” section, and much more. This plugin is a must have for me.
And if you’re looking for a more updated “add signature” plugin, you should check out “After post Manager”. It hasn’t been updated in 7 months, but it’s very straight forward and when you open it, it looks identical to your WP post dashboard… It’s awesome.
EasyAzon is a must have for people who are Amazon Affiliates. You don’t have to leave the WP dashboard to link to a product… It’s awesome lol.
I used to use broken link checker, but after I switched web hosts, I’m not able to download it. (I have WordPress web hosting through go daddy, and they block you from downloading any plugin that could potentially harm my blog). The one tip I have for that, is to deactivate and delete it, and just re download it every so often to check and fix any links.
You should also do that with P3, which goes through all, your plugins and let’s you know how much your plugins effect your page speed, as well as which plugins actually slow your site down the most. For me, the biggest one is jet pack, the other ones do t really affect my speed (except P3), which is why you should only have it downloaded and activated,while you use it. And once your done. Delete it again. 🙂
I just downloaded SumoMe last night! So I’m still playing around with it. Hehe
If you’d like any more suggestions, just let me know! I have a lot of them lol!
I look forward to reading more of your site!
-Heather Lynn
Thanks Heather. Actually, if I could get down to 31 plugins I’d be pretty proud of myself :-).
Definitely going to check out the WP Admin Tools and EasyAzon. They sound great. I’m glad you’re having fun with SumoMe. It has a lot more that I haven’t even tried yet, plus it seems like they’re always coming up with new stuff. They may lure me to start paying for it one day!
I’m noticing this blue thing pop up on the side of my blog. But I don’t know if it’s just me that sees it, or other people too. I also think it’s slowing my site down 🙁
So I think I need to get rid of it. :-/
Privy is a good plugin that offers many list building options. I just deleted it after I downloaded SumoMe. I may just go back to that, and download click to tweet.
But let me know your thoughts on WPAdminTools & The Amazon Affiliates plugin after you check them out! 🙂
Good. Here is the list of all essential WordPress Plugins that I Love :)) http://blog.templatetoaster.com/essential-plugins-for-a-wordpress-website
Debbie, this post was in the top two most clicked on Fridays Blog Booster Party#12. Well done, the post will be featured on Friday.
Kathleen
Downloading Better Delete Revision for my blog. After many years of blogging, I feel like my site lags, so going to try that to clean up my database.
There a few that are new for me. I will check them out later.
Extraordinary post, much appreciated, yet now I don’t know which one to pick, your post has given me TOO MANY choices!!
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Wonderful list of non-essential WordPress plugins would you like to add one more plugin for WP domain checker http://codecanyon.net/item/ultimate-wp-domain-search/14516219
Thanks for the nice list of plugins. I have found the Blog Designer Pro is an excellent way to design an eye-catching Blog page on our website https://goo.gl/KFTQ4W & Avartan Slider Pro plugins to design an awesome slider. http://avartanslider.com/
Debbie, this post was in the top two most clicked on Fridays Blog Booster Party#12. Well done, the post will be featured on Friday.
Recently posted Best Mouth Talking Apps
Fine list! I would like to add a very handy WordPress plugin named “User Activity Log Pro” to this list. It monitors all admin side activities of registered user.
Thanks