Here is a list of my must-have plugins.
If you have a website with me then I will have loaded most of these plugins to make your site safe and easier to use.
Editor Full Width Gutenberg
Real Simple SSL
NextGEN Gallery
JetPack by wordpress.com
WPS Hide Login
Duplicate Post
Yoast SEO
Easy Google Fonts
Wordfence Security
Paid Member Subscriptions
WP Google Maps
Give
MailPoet
WP Fastest Cache
Open Graph Protocol
Wide Editor
Let’s start with the one that makes editing so much better!
See all the white space in the Gutenberg Editor?
I find this really frustrating when creating pages as I can not see accurately.
So to overcome this we need to install this plugin: Editor Full Width Gutenberg.
So go to Plugins -> Add New -> Search -> Editor Full Width Gutenberg
And here it is.
Install Now -> Activate -> you are ready to go.
This is what an edit page looks like now.
Really Simple SSL
Really Simple SSL automatically detects your settings and configures your website to run over https.
To keep it lightweight, the options are kept to a minimum. The entire site will move to SSL.
Install and Activate
You will be taken to a screen to ‘Go ahead, activate SSL!”
On the next page click “Enable” on the line for 301 redirect
NextGEN Gallery
The most popular gallery plugin for WordPress and one of the most popular plugins of all time with over 28 million downloads.
Manage Galleries for your Post & Pages.
Install and Activate, that’s it.
JetPack by wordpress.com
The ideal plugin for stats, related posts, search engine optimization, social sharing, protection, backups, security, and more.
Install and Activate
Click Setup JetPack
We will only set up the free features. You may need to create an account with WordPress, that is good, do this.
Don’t pay for any of the accounts, we use this for the free stuff.
WPS Hide Login
Change wp-login.php to anything you want.
Install and Activate, click on the plugins Settings link,.
On the next page, change the word “login” to something you can remember but is unrelated to WordPress or logging in. Say, “mywriting”.
Logout and login using this name and now wp-admin.
Duplicate Post, now
A very handy plugin to create a copy of an existing post.
Save a lot of time.
Install and Activate, that’s it.
Easy Google Fonts
Add Google Fonts to your website.
Install and Activate, that’s it.
Go to their website to see how to use this plugin.
Wordfence Security
We will just be using the free portions of this plugin.
Make sure you have also used WPS Hide Login.
Install and Activate, on the next screen put in your email address so you will receive warnings when hacking attempts happen.
At this time we do not have a Premium Key, click No Thanks.
Paid Member Subscriptions
Want to be able to control subscriptions, and charge for premium content?
This is part of a suite of tools to help you manage people, things, and resources on your website.
WP Google Maps
This is a great plugin for showing Google maps on your site, I am currently trying to raise some donations so I can provide this to all my WordPress Accounts.
It does require a Google Billing account, though you have to have pretty heavy volumes of people looking at your maps before you get charged a cent a look.
Give – Donation Plugin
I have been looking for a way to process donations through your website. Not tax-related donations, but for people just to give to the interesting things that you are doing.
This is allowing for just that to happen.
The free version also seems to meet all the needs I have so far.
Come back in the future to see if I have added any new items to this list.
Others I have not yet evaluated.
- WP Fastest Cache or WP Rocket or W3 Total Cache (Free, fasted, but technical)
- Easy remove item menu
- ShortPixel or WP Smush
- https://www.wpbeginner.com/wordpress-performance-speed/
- Open Graph Protocol