If you run a WordPress blog then chances are you love plugins. Plugins make life easy. They help organize your blog: the comments, the posts, the sidebar, the SEO.
But with thousands of different plugins, is it possible to overdose? Have you caught yourself uploading multiple zip files to your plugins directory, only to forget what you’re adding?
You Know You’re ODing on Plugins When…
You spend more time with your plugins than you do with your posts.
You get defensive when people ask you about your plugins.
You secretly add plugins late at night when no one’s watching.
If the above is happening to you, it’s time to cut down. Visit the A-list blogs to see which plugins they use. Play around without devoting all your precious blog time and find out what works for you. You can always remove them if the relationship doesn’t work out.
My favorites are:
Akismet for spam comments.
All in One SEO which has been awesome for my Google appearances.
Share This which makes it easy for people to submit my stuff to social bookmarking sites (Digg, Stumble etc).
So how many plugins do you use? Which ones?
I think a lot of bloggers add plugins which don't compliment or enhance their site.
I have a lot of plugins as well. But I wouldn't deactivate any that I currently have going, I like them all.
I have a lot of plugins too. Kyle over @ Kyle's Cove isn't helping because he's been posting some really good ones over the past few days!
But I will say that I immediately try the plugins I install, an if they don't work or are too hard to configure, I remove them. Do you all have a bunch of disabled plugins or do you remove them from the plugin folder if you don't use them?
At last count, I have 88 plugins installed.
Somebody help me please. I can’t stop.
Plugins can slow down the site if you have a lot of them.
I try to keep mine limited.
I don't guess I have too many, but then again, but I've been lazy with them. I love plugins but I'm an overall very lazy person. Hehe, I guess I need to work on that some more.
I do have a list of some more plugins I need to install (most on the list are ones I've had trouble getting installed, mainly the related posts plugin, but I haven't retried it in a while).
Anyway, thanks for sharing your favorites. I think I need to get the Share This one for my own blog. Good post!
There's to many to choose from. Someone like me who has just gotten started is a bit overwhelmed.
Turning off comments is like going on a road trip and handing the map to your wife, but telling her not to talk to you. How will we know if we are going in the right direction if we don't let people guide us along the way.
BeachBum
Sorry for the delay in replying – the site wasn't working for me for some reason.
Lincoln: 88 plugins?? I will have to visit your site and see them all!
CoolioJones: I'm the same, I tend to delete them if they don't work properly or help the site. Experimenting with plugins made it much easier when I set up my new blogs TravelMinx.com and MovieMinx.com. I just uploaded my favorites.
Tay: The Share This plugin is perfect, it's so easy to add and it's easy for users.
PC Services: You're right, that's why it's good to see what the top bloggers recommend. Their 'essential plugins' list is usually a handy place to start.
PS. Tay: I've only just figured out Related Posts, after trying for ages. It was mainly because I bothered to open the Read Me instructions about adding certain code to my Posts template.