What makes WordPress even better is the great variety of high-quality plugins that add all sorts of increased functionality to your website.  WordPress.org hosts a great database of thousands of plugins you can install with one click on your own site.  Most plugins are created for free by awesome coders helping make the world a better place.  They deserve serious thanks.  (So if you are a coder who has created a free WordPress plugin – THANKS!)

In my use of WordPress to create websites that connect my clients and their markets I’ve come across a few that are indispensable.  These plugins can be added to your site whether you are a professional developer or hobby blogger.  These plugins stand out to me because they:

• Are easy to add to the site
• Have customizable options
• Integrate seamlessly with the WP admin panel
• Are easy to add custom design to
• Are easy for clients to understand and use (when needed)

(see this article about what makes a good plugin in general)

So, while not an exhaustive list, here are some of my favorite plugins:

Akismet

Somehow the evil spam robots of the universe have even figured out how to leave spam comments on blogs.  This can get annoying if you are constantly being bombarded with comments that aren’t real.  Akismet is the fastest way to shut off the spam-flow.  After installation I’ve never seen a spam comment get into the system.  Nice!

Google Analytics

Okay, I honestly don’t use a plugin to add Google Analytics to my sites, I do it by adding code by hand.  The point is that you need Google Analytics on your site no matter how you get it there.  Analytics gives you an incredible amount of information about visitors to your site – where in the galaxy world they came from, what they were looking for, what they looked at while on your site, and much, much more.  If you aren’t getting in-depth reports on your website traffic you need to reconsider what you are even doing with your website.

Google XML Sitemaps

One key to ranking well in search engines is to make your website easy for them to crawl and index.  This plugin creates a sitemap for search engines to see what content you have on your site, then submits it to the search engines for you! How much easier can that get?

WP sIFR

The bane of website typography for designers is the fact that we’re limited to using a very small number of fonts for editable text.  sIFR is a solution that uses Flash-based fonts to dynamically replace certain text.  This increases the number of fonts you can use like, a hundred-fold.  Looks way better and stays indexable by search engines.  This plugin makes the process of adding this great functionality to your site painless.

Lightbox 2

Images opening in their own lightbox window on top of the current page is way cooler than them opening on their own blank page.  Now adding this feature is a three step process: add the Lightbox 2 plugin, add your images, tell them to open (individually or as a group) with Lightbox.

Sociable

One of the best ways to spread the word about your blog or website is to let other people do it for you.  Sociable automatically includes a widget at the bottom of your chosen posts and pages for people to share your site via social media.  You can choose from over 99 different media sites – add as many or as few as you’d like and make sharing easy on your readers.

Twitter for WP

Everyone from movie stars to soccer moms is using Twitter these days, and if you’re using it it should be included on your site.  Some Twitter widgets and plugins are big bulky things that look ugly and take up too much space.  Enter Twitter for WP – super clean, simple and small.  You can easily style your tweets to match the rest of your site and then everyone can know what you are doing!

WP List Cal

Lots of people want calendars on their site to list upcoming events, shows, or sales.  However, it can be frustrating for users to see a big blank monthly calendar staring them in the face, where they then must click on each day to see what’s happening.  WP List Cal just displays a beautiful list of your upcoming events, and adding new events is as easy as pie.  Which I think means its really easy.

WP Polls

Adding polls to your site is a great way to get visitors to start interacting with your site – and to find out what they think!  WP Polls makes adding polls to your site a snap. You can insert the polls into your blog posts, onto pages, or have the newest ones show up in the sidebar.

Yet Another Related Posts Plugin

Keep visitors on your site longer by referring them to other posts that they might enjoy.  YARPP uses an algorithm developed by Martians that displays a list of recommended similar posts to the one your visitor is currently reading.  Giving readers more of what they want, and giving you more reads – everybody wins!

So, there you go – my favorite WordPress plugins.  Are you a WordPress user?  What’s your favorite WordPress plugin?

Or, read one of these:

1. WordPress Training
2. Uploading and Linking to a PDF in WordPress 2.8
3. 18 Beautiful Websites built with WordPress

Recently I’ve been spoiled again by an online application called Mint.  Mint allows you to track and analyze your personal finances, and it does almost everything for you. After inputing some data about your bank accounts Mint automatically pulls in updated information about those accounts everytime you log in.  It instantly gives you a snapshot of your current worth, how you are doing on your monthly budget, and alerts you to any strange or big movements in your accounts.  When you are ready you can drill down for reports on all your transactions, including comparing your spending in certain categories to others in your area.  The interface is remarkably easy to use and every part of the Mint website is beautifully designed.

I’ve been spoiled, and now going back to QuickBooks, which I use for my business finances, is like using an old DOS machine.  Now that I know how simple, intuitive and beautiful finance software can be (even when its totally free!) it makes it harder to accept anything less.  (Has anyone tried LessAccounting?)

As more and more applications move to the cloud and User Interface becomes increasingly important I expect I’m about to get spoiled more and more.  Here’s what comedian Louis C.K. has to say about it:

Here are the 6 applications or websites which have spoiled me:

Mint

Super easy personal finance software.  All-online, all-free.  Intuitive and beautiful it takes the workload off of keeping track of your expenses and makes personal accounting fun!

Gmail

The best thing to happen to email since…anything.  Threaded conversations, chatting inside Gmail, integration with Google’s Tasks and Calendar, 7+ GBs of free storage, and hundreds of more features.  Once you make the switch to Gmail you’ll never go back.  Plus now you can set it up via Google Apps or MailFetcher to be your full-time email client no matter who you have email with!

BaseCamp

The online Project Management System that keeps my business flowing.  BaseCamp set new standards in ease-of-use and simplyfing online interfaces.  I run everything through BaseCamp to set deadlines, track time, communicate with clients and more.

Awaken

An alarm clock for Macs, Awaken lets me wake up to any song or playlist on my computer.  Much better than an annoying beeper.  Awaken can also launch apps for you, be a countdown timer during the day, and put you to sleep to music.

Spaces

Mac’s brilliant innovation lets you have multiple workspaces on your computer.  Keep all of your music applications on one Space, your work files on another, and 60 open web pages on another.  Sure beats minimizing things to try and find what you’re looking for.  Check out the demo here.

Pandora

How about an online application that creates personalized radio stations based on the music you like?  Free (with ads), you should try out Pandora to hear old favorites and let Pandora introduce you to new artists based on your ratings.  Its on all day in the Apt Design office.

Ok.  How about you?  What website or application has spoiled you – made your life incredibly easier and that you couldn’t imagine not having?

Or, read one of these:

1. Make Your Premium Services Wow

Unfortunately it was before my new sign went up here.

Have you found anything interesting on Street View where you live?  There’s lots of craziness on StreetViewFun.

Or, read one of these:

1. New Google Browser
2. New Projects: Wenatchee Valley Chamber and AP College Football
3. Wenatchee Valley Sports Council Website

No related posts.

I’ve been on vacation for a few days and seem to have missed the announcement that Google is releasing their own web browser.  Its called Google Chrome and they’d like you to think its going to tip the browser world on its head.

Google hired the fantabulous comic book artist Scott McCloud to illustrate an online booklet describing the new browser.  In typical the McCloud fashion the artwork is clean and simple, but with wonderful subtle elements.  The booklet gets pretty technical, but is a great way to let people learn about this new product.

Kudos to Google, such a huge company, for using great design and illustration to promote themselves.

Or, read one of these:

1. Wenatchee on Google Map Street View