Posts Tagged ‘review’

BackItUp!

After trying for literally hours and feeling like there’s a jackhammer pounding in my head (oh wait, that would be the jackhammer going outside the window), I believe I’ve finally found a great program for backing up the data on my PC. Can’t wait to try this out and give a full report.

What do you think? Does anyone out there use Nero software for backups? Tell me what you think of it in the comments!


More WordPress Plugins

WordPress logoRecently, I gave a list of recommended plugins for WordPress with a full description of how to use them and why I like them. Here is a more complete, alphabetical list of plugins that I use or that I’m testing myself. There are literally thousands of plugins available for WordPress, so if you don’t see one listed here that does what you need, you can probably find it in the WordPress Plugins Directory. Some plugins require tweaking of the code to work, so be sure to read all of the documentation, as well as check compatibility, ratings and reviews (all available in the directory listing).

Plugins with a * are ones I consider “must haves” for all WordPress sites! You can see my review of many of those on my Happy Plugins! post.

  • *AddThisWP Directory DownloadPlugin Homepage
    Social Media Links
  • *Add Your Own HeadersWP Directory DownloadPlugin Homepage
    Customize per page/post meta tags
  • Ad RotateWP Directory DownloadPlugin Homepage
    Rotating ad banners
  • *AkismetWP Directory DownloadPlugin Homepage • Additional info – WordPress.com API Key
    Pre-installed WordPress Comment Spam Blocker
  • *All in One SEO PackWP Directory DownloadPlugin Homepage
    SEO friendly titles, tags, keywords and descriptions
  • Article DirectoryWP Directory DownloadPlugin Homepage
    Sitemap-like Directory of Categories on the site. Untested yet but looks promising to build a category-list directory similar to an online store.
  • ArtPalWP Directory DownloadPlugin Homepage
    Simple, easy-to-use PayPal links for artists selling one-of-a-kind items on their site
  • Automatic SEO LinksWP Directory DownloadPlugin Homepage
    Turn keywords within posts into external link
  • Comment LuvWP Directory DownloadPlugin Homepage
    Allows other blog users to post links to specific pages of their own blog in comments
  • Contact Form 7WP Directory DownloadPlugin Homepage
    Advanced contact form. (Note about Contact Form 7 and Dagon Designs Formmailer. Both are contact forms. It is not recommended to use both on the same site as both use CAPTCHA and may interfere with each other.)
  • Custom rel LinksWP Directory DownloadPlugin Homepage
    Set your own links for “Next” and “Previous” in your header
  • Datafeedr Random AdsWP Directory DownloadPlugin Homepage
    Create random ad banners
  • * Dagon Designs Formmailer – (Not available in directory) • Plugin Homepage
    Basic contact form. (Note about Contact Form 7 and Dagon Designs Formmailer. Both are contact forms. It is not recommended to use both on the same site as both use CAPTCHA and may interfere with each other.)
  • Drain HoleWP Directory DownloadPlugin Homepage
    Download manager
  • FB Activity WidgetWP Directory DownloadPlugin Homepage
    Add Facebook comments and advanced Facebook connectivity
  • * FB Like ButtonWP Directory DownloadPlugin Homepage
    Add basic Facebook Like button to posts and pages (Note: The FB Activity Widget and FB Like Button plugins alone do not provide links to Facbook’s Analytics, but can work well with specialized code to make the Analytics work.)
  • * Feedburner Feedsmith – (Not available in directory, see Google link for WordPress Download) • Plugin Homepage
    Track RSS feed analytics within your Google analytics account
  • * Google XML SitemapsWP Directory DownloadPlugin Homepage
    Build an automatic XML sitemap for Google crawler
  • Link Within – (Not available in directory) • Plugin Homepage
    Creates a link to top related posts with a thumbnail image from the related posts. I haven’t yet tried this plugin but I’ve been very impressed with it on other sites that I’ve seen.
  • Official Statcounter PluginWP Directory DownloadPlugin Homepage
    Works with a Statcounter account for tracking site analytics
  • Page Flip Image GalleryWP Directory DownloadPlugin Homepage
    Creates a Flash generated image gallery with “page flip” style (I have not yet tested this plugin out, but I’m hoping it will make an interesting book or magazine “feel” for some images.)
  • * PC robots.txtWP Directory DownloadPlugin Homepage
    Automatically creates a robots.txt file for your site to block spam bots and allow Google crawler bots
  • PHP Code WidgetWP Directory DownloadPlugin Homepage
    Adds a widget that will accept PHP code for the sidebars. Works just like the included WordPress HTML Text widget for PHP code.
  • Recipe PressWP Directory DownloadPlugin Homepage
    Create posts in recipe format for easy viewing of ingredients, directions, etc.
  • Sexy BookmarksWP Directory DownloadPlugin Homepage
    Animated Social Media Bookmarks
  • * Sitemap GeneratorWP Directory DownloadPlugin Homepage
    Builds an auto-generated Sitemap for your site. (FYI: If you use an updated version, check the comments on the plugin homepage for a solution to some errors. Some code in the Sitemap PHP pages may need to be updated.)
  • Smooth SliderWP Directory DownloadPlugin Homepage
    Creates a mini-slideshow of Featured Posts using an image and SEO-friendly text from the post on the slider. Plugin requires knowledge and updating of PHP pages.
  • Syntax Highlighter Evolved- WP Directory DownloadPlugin Homepage
    If you ever need to show CSS, PHP, or other code within a post, the sytax highlighter makes it easy to read and prevents the code from breaking “real” code on the page
  • Tweet MeMeWP Directory DownloadPlugin Homepage
    Adds an easy-to-use retweet button directly on posts and pages
  • * Twitter ToolsWP Directory DownloadPlugin Homepage
    Connect your WordPress site to Twitter in several different ways. Sends posts to your Twitter account automatically, connects directly with a Bit.ly account for link analytics, adds a Twitter widget to show Twitter feed in sidebars.
  • WP PollsWP Directory DownloadPlugin Homepage
    Add polls to a WordPress post or page
  • * WP Pretty PhotoWP Directory DownloadPlugin Homepage
    Creates a javascript link for images to open thumbnails in a “view window”. Requires minimal html code added to the image link. I’ve tested many javascript “pretty photo” plugins and this one is the easiest to set up and is less demanding on the server from others that I tried.
  • WP Print (*)WP Directory DownloadPlugin Homepage
    Makes pages and posts “printer friendly”. (Untested. If the plugin does what I’m hoping it will do, I expect to add this to my “must have” list after testing it myself.)
  • * Yet Another Related Posts PluginWP Directory DownloadPlugin Homepage
    Creates a list of the top 5 related posts based on tags and categories.

Note: I have not personally tested any of the above plugins with WordPress 3.0 or 3.0.1. All of my sites currently use 2.9.1 or 2.9.2 versions of WordPress until I can test compatibility of my plugins and my own themes. If you already have WordPress 3.0, check the directory and forums for compatibility issues. None of the links above are affiliate links, nor do I earn or receive anything for recommending these plugins. These are just ones I use, recommend or am trying out myself.

Do you know of a great plugin not listed here? Leave a comment with your own recommendations and reviews!

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