Essential Plugin Package
This is our list of WordPress plugins that we recommend for ALL WordPress blogging sites. In most cases you’ll need all of these. That’s why we call them essential.
WARNING: plugins are pieces of code and have a lot of potential for fun and also HARM. Most new bloggers don’t realize how dangerous WordPress plugins are. These little pieces of fun and games have the potential to be trojan horses – just full of malware. Malware = viruses. See this post for more information on security.
We always try to keep our full-time business bloggers down to 15 or so plugins for their basic WordPress install. If you need a directory, ecommerce or learning management system – that changes things. And you’ll need to adapt your hosting and security for it. For the rest of us, we only need these basic plugins.
We have them organized by their function. On the left, find the function that you’re looking for ie: Anti-spam. And then see our suggestions for what to install. In some cases we recommend a premium (paid) plugin – in those cases I’ve added an * to the title. See the description for any essential tips.
This package of recommended plugins is always changing as new and better plugins are developed.
Customization and hard-coding of these plugins is available too (for busier sites that need to keep lean and speedy).
The Essential Plugin Package Features
| Anti Spam | Anti-spam Bee, WP Zero Spam | both at the same time |
| Instagram Display | Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed | formerly Instagram Feed |
| Share Buttons | Grow by Mediavine | formerly Social Pug |
| Contact Form | Formify or Contact Form 7 | formify pro included in VIP plan |
| SEO & Sitemap | WordPress SEO by Yoast | |
| Caching | WP Rocket | for advanced users, Premium included in VIP Plan |
| Sending Posts via Email | MailerLite, free account | set up RSS feed to automatically send posts |
| Backups | Updraft Plus | connect to google drive or dropbox |
| Social Follow Buttons | Simple Social Buttons | |
| Extra Block Libraries | Kadence Blocks | premium blocks included with VIP plan |