My 6 Essential FREE Plugins for Wordpress Setup
When I first started out using Wordpress, I was unsure which plugins to add. My first website became so slow as I just added whatever I could, I just wanted to try them all without realising how slow it would make my website.
Through experience I've learned to keep it limited but there are some essential plugins that I use. Here are 6 of my favourites.
Wordfence Security - I've used this for all my websites in the past, and it works a treat. I have heard that it uses a fair amount of memory but I haven't noticed my site slowed at all.
Wordfence lets you know when somebody has tried to access your website, and the username that they've used. Usually they use admin which is why it's better not to use admin as your username.
It Scans for Malware, viruses and other threats. They also claim to keep you off Google's SEO Black-List. You can schedule scans to keep your site safe.
There are many options with this plugin also, too many to mention here but in summary, it's worked well for me and one I would certainly recommend.
BackWPup - Since getting the fright of my life by buggering up my function.php file, I've ensured that I have multiple forms of backup. Luckily I was able to retrieve my website through my host (Bluehost). However, I thought that I should have another form of backup, which if why I'd recommend Welshys tutorial on BackWPup & Dropbox. I've setup a scheduled backup every Sunday night so I'll never lose everything again, just in case Bluehost also goes down.
Broken Link Checker - This is a little ripper of a plugin that states the obvious really. It alerts you to any links that are broken. This is crucial if you don't have you're affiliate links set up correctly. Yep, lost sales!
Remove Comment Notes - Exactly what it says. You know that little bit of code below the comment box that looks very unprofessional. Well, this removes it.
TinyMCE Advanced - I think this plugin is widely known here but it sure is helpful to add extras to your page & post editor menu. Many of these I believe should be standard but at least somebody has come up with this plugin.
W3 Total Cache - Comparable to other plugins that do a similar job, W3 Total Cache claims to improve the user experience by increasing server performance and reducing download times. I checked my website speed before and after installing this and it did speed it up a little. I say a little as it was reasonable fast anyway. I use http://gtmetrix.com/ to test my page speed which says Page Speed Grade A - (92%), Y Slow Grade B (87%). This can still be improved however.
Hopefully this can help out any newbies that are first setting up their website.
Recent Comments
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Brilliant post - great advice I'll definitely be taking. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with everyone.
I installed each of your recommended plugins. No use re-inventing the wheel. You saved me a lot of time, effort, and now I can manage my site better.
Thanks man. Definitely interested in that broken link checker one - hadn't head of that before and could be very useful
I have not heard of the W3 Total Cache, but I am certainly going to check it out. Thank you. :)
As I mentioned Michelle, there are alternatives but I've found this one to be helpful. Cheers
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Thanks for these, will be checking a few of them out! Now following, all the best!