So I’ve gone through a lot of trial and error this year with themes and plugins and trying to work within the realm of my clients’ needs.  A lot of you guys asked for things I didn’t even know I could do…

Here’s a shortlist of what I have been working with in 2012 and through 2013 🙂

Akismet:

Your WordPress blog comes naturally with this amazing spam filter, but you do need to sign up to get an API on their website.  To sign up for an API key, click here. Star that email that you get because you’ll probably need that key later on in your blogging career.  You can use it with multiple blogs.

To use: Goto Plugins>Activate Akismet>Settings>Paste your API Key & update.

All in one Favicon:

Even if you don’t have the ability to edit your favicon (that little thingie in the corner of your browser), this will override any (most) theme favicon customizations.

To use: Goto Plugins>All in one Favicon>Settings>Upload

Easily integrate Analytics without getting too elbow-deep into code thereby screwing up your site.

Google XML Sitemap:

If you ever find yourself in Google Webmaster Tools, you can easily upload a sitemap. This plugin will create http://domain.com/sitemap.xml so that you may paste painlessly into your sitemap dashboard.

Jetpack:

Comes standard but if you’re more familiar with WordPress.com, you should activate this by default.  Has a lot of functions if you connect with WP.com

Now that the new upgrade of WordPress doesn’t include the ability to add/edit links (unless you created your site and edited your links prior to the 3.5 release), I suggest all new installs should add this plugin.  Here, you can list your affiliates, clients, links to other sites you trust, ads, etc.

Meeting Scheduler by vCita:

It’s that annoying pop-up thing that hits you every time you come to this page–but it works and gets me business.  Connect with the Facebook API for additional functions.. and it’s not that $$ if you want to get the paid version.  This plugin boasts Online Scheduling and an easy way to connect via your calendaring software with a proactive contact form.

If you want a responsive slider that either is images or points to pages, install this plugin.  Here, you can manipulate the # of slides, size, frequency, navigation, transition, and all by installing a [shortcode] in any of your pages or widgets.  You can have multiple slideshows on all your pages.  I’m not saying it’s not time-consuming tagging and re-naming all your images for SEO purposes, but do that part first, and thank me later.

Pinterest fever is spreading like wildfire.  Why doesn’t your company create a user account and spread knowledge within your market?  If you’re an architect, write articles about structures with compelling imagery and start sharing!  If you’re a restaurant, pin photos of your food and offer recipes on your blog.  If you’re an interior designer, start writing and pinning about the sort of design you concentrate on.  Or hire out x10industries to market for you..

If you want to remain the Admin but want to give your client more access to the back end.. you can manipulate user roles, overriding any defaults using this plugin.