{"id":232191,"date":"2017-03-05T21:08:20","date_gmt":"2017-03-05T20:08:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.elmastudio.de\/en\/?p=232191"},"modified":"2018-06-03T05:53:32","modified_gmt":"2018-06-03T03:53:32","slug":"wordpress-plugin-recommendations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.elmastudio.de\/en\/wordpress-plugin-recommendations\/","title":{"rendered":"Most Recommended WordPress Plugins"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are thousands of plugins available in the official WordPress.org plugin directory<\/a>. It’s difficult to know which plugin you should choose for your website, especially if you are just starting out with WordPress. We put together a detailed list of recommended plugins for WordPress beginners, to help you get started with your WordPress website. (We will update the list regularly to ensure it stays up-to-date).<\/p>\n

1. Spam Protection and Security<\/h2>\n

Antispam Bee<\/h4>\n

\"Antispam<\/a>
\nBy default, WordPress comes with Akismet<\/a> pre-installed. Alternatively you can use Anti-spam Bee<\/a> to protect you against comment spam. Anti-spam bee has the advantage that it offers plugin settings to make it compatible with EU data protection laws. To use the setting you need to deactivate the option “consider public spam database”<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The most effective way you can protect your WordPress site is to always use the latest version of all your plugins, themes and WordPress itself. Further you can also install a number of plugins to help you protect your website.<\/p>\n

WordFence<\/h4>\n

\"wordfence\"<\/a>
\nWordFence<\/a> is a security plugin with lots of options like a firewall, blocking unwanted login attempts, Two-factor authentication, password checks and much more.<\/p>\n

iThemes Security<\/h4>\n

iThemes Security<\/a> is another security plugin with a number of options (also in its free version). You can for instance limit the number of login attempts or change the URL of your login site. <\/p>\n

Since both security plugins have a lot of settings, it\u2019s worth taking the time to read their plugin documentations before getting started.<\/p>\n

2. Backups<\/h2>\n

\"updraftplus\"<\/a>
\nNext to security it’s as important to set up regular backups for your website. You can use the UpdraftPlus<\/a> plugin or BackWPup<\/a> to create regular, automatic backups of your database, settings and contents.<\/p>\n

3. Database Optimization<\/h2>\n

\"WP-Optimize\"<\/a>
\nYou can clean and optimize your WordPress database directly from your admin area using WP-Optimize<\/a>. Please be careful as to not delete anything accidentally here.<\/p>\n

4. Maintenance<\/h2>\n

\"WP<\/a>
\nAnytime you need to work on your website and don’t want your visitors to see the changes you are making, you can set your website in maintenance mode and show a fancy maintenance note instead with the WP Maintenance Mode<\/a> plugin.<\/p>\n

5. Cache<\/h2>\n

\"cachify\"<\/a>
\nTo speed up your website’s loading time you can use a WordPress cache plugin like Cachify<\/a> or WP Super Cache<\/a>.<\/p>\n

6. SEO Optimization<\/h2>\n

\"All<\/a>
\nFor your SEO optimization settings we recommend either All in One SEO Pack<\/a> or Yoast SEO<\/a>.<\/p>\n

7. Connecting to Social Media<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nTo add sharing buttons to your posts you can use the Simple Share Button Adder<\/a> plugin or Jetpacks<\/a> sharing buttons (especially, if you have Jetpack already installed). Jetpack also offers a number of social media widgets. For example, you can connect your website to your social media sites, like a Facebook Like Box Widget, the Twitter Timeline Widget, Goodreads Widget or Social Media Icons widget).<\/p>\n

\"WP<\/a>
\nTo show a number of your latest Instagram pics in a widget we recommend the WP Instagram Widget<\/a> plugin.<\/p>\n

\"Mailchimp<\/a>
\nIf you want to include a Mailchimp newsletter sign-up form on your website, Mailchimp for WordPress<\/a> is your plugin.<\/p>\n

8. Writing<\/h2>\n

\"TinyMCEAdvanced\"<\/a>
\nTinyMCE Advanced<\/a> improves your text editor options in your admin area.<\/p>\n

To add your own custom buttons to the editor you can use the AddQuicktag<\/a> plugin.<\/p>\n

Duplicate Posts<\/a> gives you the option to clone a post or create an additional draft from a current post for further editing.<\/p>\n

9. Forms<\/h2>\n

\"Contact<\/a>
\nAs a free plugin we recommend Contact Form 7<\/a> for forms. If you are already using Jetpack and you don’t need complex forms you can also use the Jetpack contact forms<\/a> option.<\/p>\n

10. Ecommerce<\/h2>\n

\"WooCommerce\"<\/a>
\nTo add an online shop to your WordPress site, we recommend WooCommerce<\/a>. You can sell digital or physical goods and the plugin has a number of helpful extensions. To create a multilingual shop you can install WooCommerce Multilingual<\/a>. Shops selling in Germany can also use the WooCommerce Germanized<\/a> plugin to make their shop conform with German laws.<\/p>\n

11. Extend WordPress<\/h2>\n

\"pagebuilder\"<\/a>
\nTo build custom page layouts that are not offered by your theme already, you can use the Page Builder<\/a> plugin.<\/p>\n

\"Shortcode<\/a>
\nIf you need additional features like tabs, tables, quote styles or galleries for your website, you can install the Shortcodes Ultimate<\/a> plugin and add these features via shortcodes.<\/p>\n

\"Advanced<\/a>
\nMaybe not for beginners, but rather for someone setting up a WordPress site for a client, Advanced Custom Fields<\/a> gives the option to add beautiful, more user-friendly custom fields to your admin area.<\/p>\n

To translate a theme or plugin in your own language you can use Loco Translate<\/a>.<\/p>\n

12. Lightboxes<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nLightboxes help to show images in a bigger size. WP Featherlight<\/a> is a great, light-weight lightbox option without any plugin settings. If you need more flexibility you can use the Responsive Lightbox<\/a> plugin.<\/p>\n

13. Additional<\/h2>\n