Blogging is a great way to connect with people and share information on the internet. For most blogging platforms, there are tools available to make your blog more accessible to search engines, more visually interesting and attractive, and easier to manage. In WordPress (which is the platform we use) those tools are called Plugins.
Finding time to make the most of the tools available for bloggers on WordPress can be a daunting task. There are hundreds upon hundreds of plugins available for everything from interfacing with social networking sites, to editing posts, to SEO (Search Engine Optimization), to integrating video and audio, to … you get the picture!
That’s why we often look to my friend and colleague Cathy Perkins, The WordPress Wizard, for help with figuring out useful and time-saving plugins for The Time Finder. Last winter she posted a collection of plugins, titled “The WordPress Wizard’s Must-Have Plugins” that I invite you to read through. The 6 plugins she cites are:
Vipers Video QuickTags
Dean’s FCKEditor For WordPress
WP-DB-Backup
HeadSpace was new to us, and especially interesting, as it looks like it integrates lots of SEO functions in one plugin.
Another post, this one by Chris Spooner on a site called Line 25, offers information about the “20 Most Commonly Used Plugins on WordPress Blogs.” This is a comprehensive list that you could easily use as a model for what to include when setting up your WordPress blog.
If you’d like to do some browsing yourself, here is the WordPress Plugin Directory (sorted by popularity). With the newest version of WordPress, it is easy to install and uninstall plugins, so there’s little down-side to exploring their functions. You can always deactivate and uninstall them if they aren’t to your liking.
One caution, however – BEFORE EXPLORING, BE SURE TO BACK UP YOUR BLOG! WP-DB-Backup should be the first plugin you install, and the one you use immediately!
Do you blog? And have you found time-saving tools to help you? I’d love to hear what you’ve discovered in your blogging travels, so please feel invited to drop me a line!
What if you could find another hour every day? You can! You are invited to sign up and download The New Finding Time Boundary Template. It’s FREE, and when you sign up you will also receive (if you don’t already) my FREE, weekly Finding Time Tips and my FREE, monthly Award-Winning Finding Time E-zine!
Let’s explore time together …
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