Wordpress is immensely powerful straight out of the box, but it's possible to add pretty much ANY functionality you want, and it's usually for free.
This is a list of the TOP Plugins we use at q292u.com.
They are in no particular order.
(This is an UPDATED version of an earlier post. There are SIGNIFICANT changes, as Wordpress is such a moving target)
AKISMET.
ESSENTIAL anti-spam system. Free to non-commercial users.
Filters out unwanted (spam) comments automatically, and provides stats on what it's doing. ESSENTIAL.
JETPACK
This one is essentially a multi-plugin. It gives you a lot of the functionality of Wordpress.Com. You can do away with all the social bookmarking button plugins, contact form plugins, "Follow Me" plugins, and much more. ESSENTIAL. You need a (free) wordpress.com account.
FEEDBURNER FEEDSMITH.Redirects all RSS feeds to your Feedburner feeds. So you can control all RSS activity. From there you can do e-mail Subscriptions and much more.
Including automatic TWITTER integration! Get a feedburner account. ESSENTIAL.
ALL-IN-ONE-SEO.
Handles ALL aspects of SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). Options to rewrite article titles, handles Keywords, meta tags, everything. There's also a "PRO version. You won't need it. ESSENTIAL.
ADROTATE.
Handles advertising on your site. Very comprehensive. Individual ads are created and then made into groups. You can then position the groups as widgets, in posts and on pages. Ads have start and end dates, and tracking can be switched on or off. Better than maxbannerads. STRONGLY RECOMMENDED
WP AUTO TAGGER.
Automatically adds relevant tags to your posts as you create them, based on post content. It'll find tags you hadn't thought of. STRONGLY RECOMMENDED.
WORDBAY.
Add relevant eBay listings to your posts and pages. This plugin is NOT free, but it's worth the money. Simply set it up, and use shortcodes to position ads. Now includes a widget as well. RECOMMENDED.
FEEDWORDPRESS.
Automatically creates posts on your blog, based on predefined RSS feeds. Excellent. RECOMMENDED.
HYPERCACHE.
Excellent caching plugin, creates static version of all your posts and pages as they are created. Far better than SUPERCACHE. ESSENTIAL if you use a lot of plugins, or have a lot of visitors.
Get the "Clear Cache" Button plugin as well.
EXCLUDE FROM NAVIGATION.
Some themes automatically add all pages to navigation menus. This is how to stop it. Adds a checkbox in the editor. ESSENTIAL.
GOOGLE XML SITEMAPS.
Automatically generates and submits sitemaps to Google. You can also submit these to Yahoo and Bing, yourself. Helps with SEO. ESSENTIAL.
WORDPRESS-DB-BACKUP.
Automatically create scheduled database backups and e-mail to yourself.
Simple and effective. ESSENTIAL.
SMART 404.
Attempts to redirect 404 errors to relevant pages based on search query, and URL requested. Reduces bounce-rates. ESSENTIAL
Mail From.
Simply changes the return e-mail address for automatically-generated e-mail messages to something like "NOREPLY@domain.com". ESSENTIAL.
Google Analytics.
This adds Google Analytics tracking code to all your pages and posts, so you can keep tabs on everything. You need an analytics account. ESSENTIAL.
CONTEXTUAL RELATED POSTS.
Adds links to other relevant posts on your site. Engages visitors, and keeps them on your site longer. STRONGLY RECOMMENDED.
Showing posts with label Wordpress Plugins. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wordpress Plugins. Show all posts
Friday, 19 October 2012
Wordpress | Blank First Line in RSS feed | Broken RSS feed
We've just had this happen to TWO sites:
The first line of the RSS feed comes out blank, meaning that the RSS feed is broken.
Feedburner can't cope, so the RSS subscriptions, Twitter feed, and e-mail subscriptions all disappeared down a black hole.
This happened after a couple of major site revisions, involving new plugins.
First up, we tried the "fix-rss-feed" plugin. Nope.
Then the "whitespace" fix. Nope.
Removing blank lines from wp-config. Nope.
Hmm..
The solution is the obvious, boring one:
disable ALL plugins, and re-enable one-by-one until the RSS feed breaks.
Turns out it was nothing to do with the new plugins, it was "Advanced Tag List", which I think has just been updated..
It just goes to show - you can never be too careful. With muktiple plugins by multiple authors, this IS going to happen.
Anyway - everything is again rosy in the garden.
Tuesday, 10 January 2012
ESSENTIAL Plugins for Wordpress
Wordpress is immensely powerful straight out of the box, but it's possible to add pretty much ANY functionality you want, and it's usually for free.
This is a list of the TOP Plugins we use at q292u.com.
They are in no particular order.
AKISMET.
ESSENTIAL anti-spam system. Free to non-commercial users.
Filters out unwanted (spam) comments automatically, and provides stats on what it's doing. ESSENTIAL.
FEEDBURNER FEEDSMITH.
Redirects all RSS feeds to your Feedburner feeds. So you can control all RSS activity. From there you can do e-mail Subscriptions and much more.
Including automatic TWITTER integration! Get a feedburner account. ESSENTIAL.
ALL-IN-ONE-SEO.
Handles ALL aspects of SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). Options to rewrite article titles, handles Keywords, meta tags, everything. There's also a "PRO version. You won't need it. ESSENTIAL.
ADROTATE.
Handles advertising on your site. Very comprehensive. Individual ads are created and then made into groups. You can then position the groups as widgets, in posts and on pages. Ads have start and end dates, and tracking can be switched on or off. Better than maxbannerads. STRONGLY RECOMMENDED
WPTOUCH.
Creates a mobile version of your site on the fly. All you need to do is access the site via a mobile device. The interface looks like Apple iOs.
Very smart. ESSENTIAL There's a PRO version as well.
WP AUTO TAGGER.
Automatically adds relevant tags to your posts as you create them, based on post content. It'll find tags you hadn't thought of. STRONGLY RECOMMENDED.
WORDBAY.
Add relevant eBay listings to your posts and pages. This plugin is NOT free, but it's worth the money. Simply set it up, and use shortcodes to position ads. Now includes a widget as well. RECOMMENDED.
FEEDWORDPRESS.
Automatically creates posts on your blog, based on predefined RSS feeds. Excellent. RECOMMENDED.
QUICKCACHE.
Excellent caching plugin, creates static version of all your posts and pages as they are created. Far better than SUPERCACHE.
ESSENTIAL if you use a lot of plugins, or have a lot of visitors.
EXCLUDE FROM NAVIGATION.
Some themes automatically add all pages to navigation menus. This is how to stop it. Adds a checkbox in the editor. ESSENTIAL.
GOOGLE XML SITEMAPS.
Automatically generates and submits sitemaps to Google. You can also submit these to Yahoo and Bing, yourself. Helps with SEO. ESSENTIAL.
WORDPRESS-DB-BACKUP.
Automatically create scheduled database backups and e-mail to yourself.
Simple and effective. ESSENTIAL.
SMART 404.
Attempts to redirect 404 errors to relevant pages based on search query, and URL requested. Reduces bounce-rates. ESSENTIAL
Mail From.
Simply changes the return e-mail address for automatically-generated e-mail messages to something like "NOREPLY@domain.com". ESSENTIAL.
Google Analytics.
This adds Google Analytics tracking code to all your pages and posts, so you can keep tabs on everything. You need an analytics account. ESSENTIAL.
SIMPLE SOCIAL BOOKMARKS.
Adds social bookmark icons to your posts. Allows your readers to recommend your posts on DIGG, REDDIT, SLASHDOT, etc. STRONGLY RECOMMENDED.
CONTEXTUAL RELATED POSTS.
Adds links to other relevant posts on your site. Engages visitors, and keeps them on your site longer. STRONGLY RECOMMENDED.
GOOGLE +1 BUTTON.
The new kid on the block. Allows visitors to mark relevant posts, adds kudos and visibility on Google.
FACEBOOK LIKE BUTTON.
Allows visitors to "LIKE" your site on Facebook. Facebook is a massive audience, not to be ignored. STRONGLY RECOMMENDED.
This is a list of the TOP Plugins we use at q292u.com.
They are in no particular order.
AKISMET.
ESSENTIAL anti-spam system. Free to non-commercial users.
Filters out unwanted (spam) comments automatically, and provides stats on what it's doing. ESSENTIAL.
FEEDBURNER FEEDSMITH.
Redirects all RSS feeds to your Feedburner feeds. So you can control all RSS activity. From there you can do e-mail Subscriptions and much more.
Including automatic TWITTER integration! Get a feedburner account. ESSENTIAL.
ALL-IN-ONE-SEO.
Handles ALL aspects of SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). Options to rewrite article titles, handles Keywords, meta tags, everything. There's also a "PRO version. You won't need it. ESSENTIAL.
ADROTATE.
Handles advertising on your site. Very comprehensive. Individual ads are created and then made into groups. You can then position the groups as widgets, in posts and on pages. Ads have start and end dates, and tracking can be switched on or off. Better than maxbannerads. STRONGLY RECOMMENDED
WPTOUCH.
Creates a mobile version of your site on the fly. All you need to do is access the site via a mobile device. The interface looks like Apple iOs.
Very smart. ESSENTIAL There's a PRO version as well.
WP AUTO TAGGER.
Automatically adds relevant tags to your posts as you create them, based on post content. It'll find tags you hadn't thought of. STRONGLY RECOMMENDED.
WORDBAY.
Add relevant eBay listings to your posts and pages. This plugin is NOT free, but it's worth the money. Simply set it up, and use shortcodes to position ads. Now includes a widget as well. RECOMMENDED.
FEEDWORDPRESS.
Automatically creates posts on your blog, based on predefined RSS feeds. Excellent. RECOMMENDED.
QUICKCACHE.
Excellent caching plugin, creates static version of all your posts and pages as they are created. Far better than SUPERCACHE.
ESSENTIAL if you use a lot of plugins, or have a lot of visitors.
EXCLUDE FROM NAVIGATION.
Some themes automatically add all pages to navigation menus. This is how to stop it. Adds a checkbox in the editor. ESSENTIAL.
GOOGLE XML SITEMAPS.
Automatically generates and submits sitemaps to Google. You can also submit these to Yahoo and Bing, yourself. Helps with SEO. ESSENTIAL.
WORDPRESS-DB-BACKUP.
Automatically create scheduled database backups and e-mail to yourself.
Simple and effective. ESSENTIAL.
SMART 404.
Attempts to redirect 404 errors to relevant pages based on search query, and URL requested. Reduces bounce-rates. ESSENTIAL
Mail From.
Simply changes the return e-mail address for automatically-generated e-mail messages to something like "NOREPLY@domain.com". ESSENTIAL.
Google Analytics.
This adds Google Analytics tracking code to all your pages and posts, so you can keep tabs on everything. You need an analytics account. ESSENTIAL.
SIMPLE SOCIAL BOOKMARKS.
Adds social bookmark icons to your posts. Allows your readers to recommend your posts on DIGG, REDDIT, SLASHDOT, etc. STRONGLY RECOMMENDED.
CONTEXTUAL RELATED POSTS.
Adds links to other relevant posts on your site. Engages visitors, and keeps them on your site longer. STRONGLY RECOMMENDED.
GOOGLE +1 BUTTON.
The new kid on the block. Allows visitors to mark relevant posts, adds kudos and visibility on Google.
FACEBOOK LIKE BUTTON.
Allows visitors to "LIKE" your site on Facebook. Facebook is a massive audience, not to be ignored. STRONGLY RECOMMENDED.
Monday, 10 October 2011
WORDPRESS: How to disable all active plugins, without access to the dashboard..
See my earlier post as to why I needed to do this..
My site was down. Dead. No access to the admin functions. The problem was a plugin gone bad (when I tried to disable it).
So, I needed to disable plugins, but couldn't get into the admin panel.
The excellent support guys at Unlimited Web Hosting came up with this ingenious solution:
Here's what you do: use CPANEL or PLESK to access the Wordpress database of your site directly. It'll be something like phpmyadmin. Details vary with web hosting firms. If in doubt, ask yours.
Browse the WP_OPTIONS table. Look for a record called "active_plugins".
Copy the contents of this field into notepad, and save it, just in case.
Now go back to the database, and EMPTY the contents of "active plugins", and save it. (you can always restore it from the copy you made).
Now access your site. It should come back up, but with no plugins running, so it'll be weird. Now go into admin as usual, and re-enable all plugins one-by-one, EXCEPT the one that caused the problem.
I'd DELETE that one..
** DISCLAIMER. If you try this solution, and it messes things up, that's your problem. I take no responsibility for it. It worked for me. **
** If it all goes wrong, simply restore the database from your backup. You DO have a backup, right? **
My site was down. Dead. No access to the admin functions. The problem was a plugin gone bad (when I tried to disable it).
So, I needed to disable plugins, but couldn't get into the admin panel.
The excellent support guys at Unlimited Web Hosting came up with this ingenious solution:
Here's what you do: use CPANEL or PLESK to access the Wordpress database of your site directly. It'll be something like phpmyadmin. Details vary with web hosting firms. If in doubt, ask yours.
Browse the WP_OPTIONS table. Look for a record called "active_plugins".
Copy the contents of this field into notepad, and save it, just in case.
Now go back to the database, and EMPTY the contents of "active plugins", and save it. (you can always restore it from the copy you made).
Now access your site. It should come back up, but with no plugins running, so it'll be weird. Now go into admin as usual, and re-enable all plugins one-by-one, EXCEPT the one that caused the problem.
I'd DELETE that one..
** DISCLAIMER. If you try this solution, and it messes things up, that's your problem. I take no responsibility for it. It worked for me. **
** If it all goes wrong, simply restore the database from your backup. You DO have a backup, right? **
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)