We are considering adding some of the must have WordPress plug-ins to our install of our Managed Blog Hosting. That way customers who are getting started will already have those plug-ins to enable or not in their blog.
Post in the comments the plug-ins you feel are a must have and we will follow up in a subsequent post on which one’s made the cut.
Matt
September 6, 2007 8:49 pm
Akismet – http://akismet.com/
Google XML Sitemaps – http://www.arnebrachhold.de/redir/sitemap-home/
WordPress.com Stats – http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/stats/
WordPress Database Backup – http://www.ilfilosofo.com/blog/wp-db-backup
You might even want to consider buying an WordPress/Akismet API key for Hosting companies (http://akismet.com/commercial/ – bottom of the page), that you can use for all your managed blog customers. That way, they can use Akismet and WordPress.com Stats without having themselves to register at wordpress.com to get a API key.
Derek
September 7, 2007 6:41 am
Along with the ones mentioned by Matt, I would think these might be appropriate as well:
– ExecPhp
– FeedSmith (formerly Feedburner Feed Replacement)
– Google Analytics
There are a few other ones that I would like to see but I am not sure how others would feel about them. This list would include: AdSense-Deluxe, Brian’s Threaded Comments, Feed Footer, Optimal Title and Subscribe to Comments.
Those are a few of the core plugins that I typically will install, but I know those are more specific and might not fit the “must-have” category for everyone.
Matt
September 7, 2007 7:25 pm
ExecPHP probably isn’t a good idea…
I think only the absolute “necessary” plugins should be included, since too many plugins will slow down your blog.
blogadmin
September 7, 2007 7:31 pm
I wasn’t thinking we would enable them all though, just have them there so they can enable them if they want. I have been working with about 10 new bloggers one on one and most of them don’t know where to find a theme or even what plugins they should have installed.
I think that is one reason why most start with a blogger style account.
Kevin Hazard
September 12, 2007 2:56 pm
If you want to be prepared for potential traffic surges, I would recommend WP-Cache. It creates a static cache page for your readers to view (rather than pulling the information from the database each time).
blogadmin
September 12, 2007 3:28 pm
Kevin,
Excellent idea.
Now if you would only add the subscribe to comments to your blog :)
Matt
September 12, 2007 7:01 pm
If you do add this, you might need to enable it by default, because setting it up isn’t as easy as hitting Activate. You need to add a line to wp-config.php and disable gzip (in the Options of WordPress), in enabled.
Kelly
September 14, 2007 1:47 am
In addition to some mentioned above:
Brian’s Threaded Comments”>
Subscribe to Comments
Edit Comments
Google Sitemaps Generator
Landing Sites (Which is hard to install)
Ultimate Tag Warrior
Optimal Title
I posted a whole list of plugins I use on my blog but unfortunately ever since someone hacked into it, I’ve been too lazy to update and the post disappeared. Therefore, this isn’t the complete list (and I don’t have links to a couple) but these are some of my “must haves”. Also, definitely Akismet, WP Database Backup, and Google Analytics.
Kelly
September 14, 2007 8:15 pm
And also Math Comment Spam Protection
Kelly
September 14, 2007 8:25 pm
Also,
Math Comment Spam Protection
Contact Form w/Spam Protection
Here are the ones I didn’t have links to earlier…
Edit Comments
Subscribe to Comments
Don’t know how updated these plugins are though… =P
Matt
September 14, 2007 9:43 pm
WordPress 2.3 has built-in tags, so Ultimate Tag Warrior (as it is now) would be redundant. Of course, the author of that plugin might update to use WP’s existing tagging and add more features, which would make sense…