When running WordPress it is important to keep it as quick as possible and one way to do this is to run as few plugins as possible. Plugins are great if you don’t have the knowledge or don’t feel comfortable doing something like inserting a META tag in to the code when using Google Analytics. Here is a list of my Top 5 Plugins for WordPress. These not only make it easy for you to do what you need to get done but also will speed up you site and even clean up your database.
W3 Total Cache is the ultimate in caching for WordPress This plugin has options for CDN support, Minify, and more. The CDN module in W3 Total Cache allows support for Microsoft Azure Storage, Amazon CloudFront, and Rackspace Cloud Files to name a few. You can read more about W3 Total Cache here.
When it comes to comments I trust Disqus Comment System. This plugin is WordPress comments but with a twist. Using Disqus gives you increased audience and exposure inside of a larger discussion community. This plugin ties right in with WordPress and backups and sync comments between your blog’s database and the Disqus comment database. Disqus also provides full spam filering and comment moderation which can be be enhanced with help from Akistmet. This plugins also will display peoples public reaction from Twitter. You can read more about Disqus Comment System here.
Now I could add the social buttons to this site myself but why do that when I can use something like 1-Click Retweet/Share/Like from LinksAlpha. This plugin will not only add the sharing buttons for you but also adds the ability to automatically cross-post to social networks such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. 1-Click Retweet/Share/Like will add the buttons automatically for you and give you the option to have as many or as few buttons as you want. It even gives you the option to control exactly where the buttons should appear on a give post or page. You can read more about 1-Click Retweet/Share/Like here.
When you install Jetpack for WordPress it is like installing a bunch of other smaller plugins. Granted Jetpack will add the social buttons but you don’t get that added benefit that the aforementioned 1-Click Retweet/Share/Like adds. Where this plugin fails it definitely makes up for it in other areas such as wp.me shortlinks. Jetpack for WordPress also offers such services as email subscriptions, gravatar hovercards, extra sidebar widgets and more. You can read more about Jetpack for WordPress here.
For Search Engine Optimization (SEO) I choose WordPress SEO by YOAST. Thus plugins makes it easy to configure things like your Meta Title and Meta Decription for the site and for posts. This plugin also ties in with Google Webmaster Tools as well as Bing Webmaster Tools. You can read more about WordPress SEO by YOAST here.
BONUS: This laste plugin is a bonus and it’s name is WP-Cleaner and this plugin is a very handy utility. It will clean out all your post revisions, page revisions, and even empty the tras for you. This remove all the unused and not useful data that exists in your database. This an opt-in plugin in that I mean you have to actively tell it to clean the database. When not in use I just disable granted it may not make much change on the front end but it’s just done a safe measure. You can read more about WP-Cleaner here.
For now I leave with my list of Top 5 Plugins for WordPress. Be sure to comment below and Like, Tweet and +1 this article. You can always follow me on Twitter so you will know exactly when a new post is live. You can find links to my social networks here. Until next time thanks for reading.
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