What you can do with Wordpress [Part 3 - Plugins]

We started with the basics, then discussed how to get your blog looking good, but today we look at what is required to go above and behind Wordpress, plugins. We will start with how to install and Wordpress plugin, and then I will list the seven plugins you can not live without!

Anytime you visit a Wordpress blog and see something that looks out of the ordinary it is more than likely it is a Wordpress plugin. There are numerous plugins, but I have picked out ten and shown them in detail, from installation to usage.

Installing Wordpress plugins

Most plugins have the exact same method for installation. They are basically in a three step process.

1. Download the plugin
2. Upload the plugin to the wp-content/plugins folder
3. Click the Plugins tab under your Admin Dashboard and activate the plugin.

The seven most useful Plugins

Akismet

Once you start getting some hits you will notice more and more spam in your blog comments. It ends up driving you crazy trying to keep track of it. Thankfully for you Wordpress has a plugin built in that will help you.

All you have to do for this plugin is activate, now uploading needed. Once you have activated this plugin, you will receive an error asking for your Wordpress API key. The error message will tell you to enter to click on “What is This.” You will then have to sign up for a Wordpress.com account, and once you have done this Wordpress will email you your API key to enter into the Akismet options.

Confused? Don’t worry so were we, you can watch a video tutorial on Akismet installation right here.

Once Akismet is up and running you will notice that under the “Manage” tab your Akismet Spam will be separated. Every now and then it will pick out comments that are not spam, so I recommend looking into this folder every now and then.

Feedburner Feed Replacement

The first ting that I did when I create a Wordpress blog was burned my feed. I love being able to keep track of my readers and Wordpress’ default feed just did not cut it.

The Feedburner Feed Replacement takes that feed and automatically makes it your feedburner feed. All you have to do is activate the theme, and go to the Options > FeedBurner tab.

There you can enter your feed’s URL and click save. Bam, done.

Download

ImageManager

I noticed when I started blogging that keeping track of my images was such a hassle. I had to open my FTP client and upload the images, then insert them through Wordpress. Why not just do that right in the Wordpress Admin page? I have the plugin for you.

The ImageManager plugin is simple, activate it and then go to the “Write” tab, there you will see the Image Manager Icon on the far right of your text area. Within ImageManager you can upload images, crop and resize them, and then insert them into your blog posts.

Download

Page Links To

Ever wish you could create a link blog to an external site? Me too. Especially since my website is a series of separate sources.

With “Page Links To” all you have to do is create a page and in the “Custom Fields” area insert “links_to” as your key and your URL as your Value. It is that easy.

Download

Subscribe to Comments

A great way to keep your readers on top of what is going at your blog is to allow them to interact with others. Unfortunately, often times after they comment they leave and never return to see what others say.

The “Subscribe to Comments” plugin allows them to receive email updates every time there is a new comment. All you have to do is activate this plugin and it does the rest.

Download

Wordpress Database Backup

Wouldn’t you hate to lose all of your posts and comments? I know I would, the Wordpress Database Backup plugin allows you to backup your blog to your server, your computer’s hard drive, or to your email. You do not even have to search for this one, it is included in your Wordpress download.

After activating it click on “Manage > Backup” and check where you would like your database to be backed up, then click the “Backup!” button.

If you want to see how to do it, check out this tutorial video.

Podpress

If you are creating audio or video content on your blog Podpress is for you. After activating the plugin you can immediately add content into your posts in multiple formats.

When you are in the “Write” tab click “Add Media file” under the “Podcasting” section. Once you have inserted your information click “Move Up” to add the content to your blog.

I will discuss more about Podpress later in the “What you can do with Wordpress” series.

Download

Next on “What you can do with Wordpress”

We have discussed content and lots of things that you can do with Wordpress. Next we will discuss how to track your readers through statistics and programs.