So I have been using WordPress for, how long? Like three (3) years? It’s about time that I put together another WordPress plugin list. But this isn’t any list, here I present plugins that help save Web Developers timewith commonly asked-for website fuctionality.

Many times I have a client ask me for a specific implementation (most commonly carousels or slideshows) and instead of developing a functionality from scratch, I just grab one of these plugins and customize it a bit. I use these the most often:

NextGen Gallery

Very customizable picture gallery.

Contact Form 7

Simply the easiest AJAX powered contact form. Fully customizable.

LightBox 2

If you don’t know what a Lightbox is, then I feel sorry for you. Make your clients pictures pop, literally off the screen.

TubePress

As time goes on, more and more of your clients will also have YouTube accounts.  Why not use the click of a button to import, list, and play their YouTube videos right on their website? Tubepress is easy to use, and for additional features you can upgrade to TubePress Pro for a one time donation.

My Page Order

Learning WordPress for the tech-impaired is like a sensory overload.  Keeping track of page order by way of those little numbers in the edit-page area can be managed much easier with My Page Order. It uses a drag and drop interface to order pages.

Hey All!

Welcome to my new blog.  It hasn’t changed that much but at least I’m finally heading in some direction with it.  I thought for my first new post I would write about the plugins I’m using this time around.

• Contact Form 7 – This plugin is amazing.  Really simple to use AJAX form, that even has a form generator in the admin section for a truly customizable experience.  It even has a built in option for a CAPCHA area, to prevent spam. (However you have to download this as a seperate plugin to use the functionality.)
• Flickr Gallery – Really simple to use Flickr implementation plugin that allows you to important your Flickr photostream in a variety of customizable ways.  Currently I have mine set to display the most recent uploads.
• Twitter Updater – Automatically sends a tweet to my twitter profile to let my followers know I just posted a new blog post.
• All in one SEO Pack- Everyone should know about this one already.
• Google SiteMaps XML – Again, a great SEO tool which everyone already knows about.
• Ozh’ Admin Drop Down Menu – Now this plugin is incredibly helpful.  It makes all admin section navigation in drop down menu format with CSS.  I couldn’t stand having to click through the various higher-level nav to get to the lower-level admin pages.  This saved me about 15 minutes of clicking time.
• Sociable – Easy integration of social networking and bookmark services. (Which is below this post…tweet me please!)

I’m also using various other plugins, but they are technical and/or aren’t important enough to talk about here.  Anyways, enjoy the new blog look and feel.  Hopefully now that I have a more presentable blog, I will write more.

Evan