WORDPRESS PLUGINSMaking your blog sing (a bit more) with

1. SUBSCRIBE TO COMMENTS (2 PLUGINS)

• Keep them coming back

• Need to edit your template

• Allows visitor to subscribe to comments on a post

• Massive help to kenmc.com’s early traffic.

• Plugin: Subscribe to comments & Subscribe to comments now!

2. GRAVITY FORMS – GRAVITYFORMS.COM

• Commercial plugin but worth the investment if you need to manage forms on your blog.

• Starts at US$39

• Custom build all kinds of forms from within your blog and store the results in the admin area.

• Have used for school registration, event registration, job applications and more.

3. SHARETHIS (VERSION 4.04)

• Sharing made easy.

• Allow your readers to share your posts on Twitter / Facebook / LinkedIn / Delicious

• Appears as a button on the end of your posts or pages.

4. WORDPRESS POPULAR POSTS

• Highlight the popular articles.

• Works like latest comments / latest posts.

• Can take into account number of views on a post, number of comments, keeps the busy posts to the front.

5. TWITTER TOOLS

• Automatically tweet your posts from your blog.

• Can also create summary blog posts from a week on Twitter.

• Nice widget for your sidebar to display latest Tweets.

6. FOLLOW ME (WPFOLLOWME)

• Add a badge to your blog to encourage people to follow you on Twitter.

• Badge is positioned around the edge of the screen so no editing themes.

• User clicks badge, lands on your Twitter profile.

7. ALL IN ONE SEO PACK

• For really making your blog tick in terms of SEO.

• Custom titles, descriptions, keywords, menu titles and more.

• Really get the most out of your blog’s content on search engines.

8. GOOGLE XML SITEMAPS

• If using Google Webmaster Tools, a must.

• Creates an XML sitemap of all the content in your blog.

• Map is updated every time you make a change and pinged.

• Google uses sitemap when indexing your blog for search results. Got a map, get seen!

9. TAL.KI EMBEDDABLE FORUMS

• Available for standalone websites and Wordpress blogs.

• No need to register, just create a forum, embed javascript or activate plugin.

• Users sign in with a Facebook / Google / Yahoo account and get posting.

10. MAILCHIMP / ANALYTICS360

• Free email newsletter service. Send up to 6,000 emails a month to 1,000 subscribers for free.

• Analytics360 combines Mailchimp and Google Analytics into your Wordpress dashboard.

• Mailchimp (Plugin) Adds a mailing list widget for signups without having to edit template.

• Mailchimp run a free online webinar every week about getting started with your email newsletters. (45 mins)

11. SIMPLE YEARLY ARCHIVE

• Got a busy blog? Let users find old posts with ease.

• Uses a shortcode [SimpleYearlyArchive] to display a list of all previous posts by title.

• Can include date, comment count. A must for old and well-filled blogs.

THOSE PLUGINS AGAIN…

• Subscribe To Comments

• Gravity Forms

• Share This

• Wordpress Popular Posts

• Twitter Tools

• FollowMe

• All In One SEO Pack

• Google XML Sitemaps

• Tal.ki Forums• Analytics360

• Simple Yearly Archive

WHERE TO GET THEM

• All of the plugins mentioned are available to download through Wordpress or via Wordpress.org

• GravityForms available via GravityForms.com

• MailChimp available for free via MailChimp.com

FIND ME ONLINE

• Online– http://eventmedia.ie– http://kenmc.com

• Twitter– @eventmedia– @kenmcguire

• Facebook– http://facebook.com/kenmcguire