Tag: WordPress 101

One of the main features of the WordPress platform is that you can quickly expand your WP site’s functionality using applications called plugins.

What Are Plugins?

No doubt, you probably own a smart phone. What happens when you would like access to something new on your device like a new application, game or productivity tool?

Why, simple … you download and install an app!

An app is a little software that is easy to install and immediately adds new features and functionality to any smart phone.

(Just like you can find social sharing apps …)

A WordPress plugin is really similar to an app. You install a little software application that provides new functionality to your web site …

(… there are also social sharing plugins for WordPress users!)

Generally, expanding the functionality of an existing site involves additional cost. Depending on how complex the new features or enhancements are, this could get fairly expensive, especially if website developers need to add new code or edit programs or install programs that integrate with your existing set up.

This is also applicable to creating a website. Organizations tend to invest up-front in bells and whistles they probably will never need.

For this reason, we recommend a cost-effective strategy to growing a digital presence presence and WordPress plugins are ideal for doing this.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could:

1) Start simply and inexpensively. Get a basic, professional-looking web site up and running quickly, then …

2) As more features or functionality become necessary, install new applications with a couple of clicks of the mouse directly from your administration panel, and give your website or blog an entirely new and expanded range of useful functionality, and also …

3) Cost not one cent extra to install on your web site?

Well, that’s exactly what plugins let you do!

Plugins – Benefits And Advantages

I began this article by comparing WP plugins with ’apps’. In the same way that some apps are free to download and some apps cost a little bit of money, the same is true with WP plugins.

In fact, loads of fantastic plugins are available at no cost to users.

WP plugins that cost money are called “Premium” plugins. The good news, is that when compared to the price of hiring a professional web developer to add similar features and functionality on your site, most Premium (i.e. paid) plugins are typically quite inexpensive.

Also, since WordPress is an Open Source application, any web developer can create, modify and customize any part of the WP code. This has enabled many third-party software developers to enhance the core software application.

• WordPress plugins let you start off with just a simple yet professional online business presence and expand as required.
• Plugins allow you to add almost unlimited features to any web site easily and cheaply.
• WP plugins give your web site virtually unlimited expanding capabilities.
• WordPress plugins allow business owners to have a digital presence that they can fully manage.
• Most plugins will work “right out of the box” and only require to be installed and activated to provide your website with immediate enhancements and features.
• Some plugins provide more extensive options and could require some initial configuration.

WP Plugins – Powerful, Flexible … And (Many Of Them Are) 100% FREE!

Just like WordPress themes, thousands of WP plugins are currently available for WordPress users … often at no cost!

You can view and download thousands of WP plugins from the Free WP Plugin Repository …

As mentioned earlier, you will find plugins that can do just about everything you want done.

Plugin categories cover:

• Site Management
• Content Management
• Increasing Web Traffic
• User Interactivity
• Social Connectivity
• Media Management Automation
• Improving Website Conversions And Lead Generation
• Data & System Reporting
• Optimizing Your

For example, you can enhance your website with plugins such as:

• Contact forms
• Quizzes and polls
• Surveys
• Display banners
• E-commerce (from managing single-item sales with PayPal buttons, to full e-commerce stores with online shopping carts, invoicing, recurring billing, discount codes, etc …)
• Social sharing buttons
• Private Membership sites
• Newsletter opt-in forms
• Sales workflow
• Mobile integration
• Improving your website’s SEO
• Image galleries (with rotating images, lightboxes, etc.)
• User testimonials
• Language translation (e.g. you can instantly change your website’s content from English to French)
• Statistical reporting (e.g. number of visitors, pages visited, keywords searched, etc.)
• Custom navigation menus
• Customer engagement – contest, live chat, currency conversion, etc.
• Media management
• Making pages load faster
• Managing events
• Niche directories
• Automatically sell and manage advertising on your website
• Set up client appointments and reminders
• Help customers make reservations and bookings
• Detect broken hyperlinks and send you reports
• Redirect affiliate links
• Monitor what social media users are posting about your business
• Make your pages available for printing or downloading as PDF
• Add a site map
• Exclude specific from displaying on areas of your site (e.g. site maps, feeds, etc.)
• Hide content on your pages and posts
• Migrate data from non-WordPress platforms
• Perform bulk content edits
• Block SPAM commenting
• Customize guest comment displays (e.g. display Facebook posts)
• Inserting code and code elements into your website’s header or footer
• Add tables
• Add animated graphics and advanced text formatting options
• Add and manage QR codes
• Improve your local search listings on Google
• Add a map of your business location
• Publish your content automatically on sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr and many others
• Show countdown timers (for special offers, coupons, etc …)
• Display personal greetings, timed offers, etc …
• And so many other features!

As you can clearly see, plugins give you practically limitless business flexibility. If you plan to build a website or blog for your business, or your existing site wasn’t built using WordPress, then consider using WordPress in the future.

If you’re still wondering just how powerful and flexible WordPress plugins are, let’s take a look at how you can benefit by adding a plugin to your website.

For example, if you need to publish private content, you can install plugins to make an area of your post or page inaccessible, or transform your WordPress site into a professional membership site with personal login details for users …

As mentioned previously, free plugins can be used to enhance your website in so many ways. From installing new features that can improve your business, your web users’ experience and your ability to review site metrics …

To increasing your site’s reach and visibility across social media and search engines …

You can also add complex features to your site using relatively inexpensive premium plugins. For example, you can buy plugins that automate functions on your pages such as managing customer testimonials and event registration details …

And even run a custom bookings and reservations system online … all for a small fraction of the cost of hiring software developers to create similar functionality for you …

You can also take advantage of built-in WP commenting features and plugins that can increase user engagement …

For example, your web visitors can easily:

• Leave comments on your blog posts (which can grow into online discussions) using either the built-in WP commenting feature, or integrated Facebook comments (which then get shared throughout a visitors’ Facebook pages, giving your site additional exposure).
• Share your posts with other online users on social networks.
• Contact you using contact forms
• Engage online directly with other online users via online forums or even set up an online community on your site.
• Engage with members of your team through live webcam conferencing and chatroom facilities
• Call your business directly from their mobile phones when browsing your website
• Get support via a customer helpdesk
• And so much more …

You can also integrate sophisticated “back end” applications using a WP “front end”. This lets you control the content that your visitors see on your site, while the 3rd-party application handles the technical areas …

Additional Things To Know About WP Plugins

• There are so many plugins available. Be careful not to overload your server with too many plugins, as this can affect your site’s performance and page loading times. It can also create more maintenance issues for you resulting from potential conflicts and errors.
• Install only those plugins you really need. Delete inactive plugins from your site, as these use server resources.
• Many free plugins typically come with little to no support from the plugin author. When choosing paid plugins, we recommend that you check some reviews online and understand what kind of reputation the developer has when it comes to offering support, updates, new improvements, etc. Be sure to check the plugin reviews we provide on this site for more useful information.
• If you see that an unsupported plugin has not been updated for a while (e.g. two years), then think twice before installing it. The WordPress application updates on a frequent basis and outdated plugins can create conflicts.
• Always update your plugins to their latest software version. Outdated plugin not only can create errors and conflicts, they could also have vulnerabilities that could be exploited by hackers and malicious software.

As you can see, WP plugins are an important component of WordPress and contribute to making it the most preferred content management system available. Plugins also provide WordPress users with an easy, simple and inexpensive way to add instant features to their web presence without having to spend thousands of dollars on outsourced web development.

One last thing regarding plugins:

If there is a functionality you need for your web presence, you can guarantee that a someone has probably already authored one that will do what you want it to do, and that it can either be downloaded for FREE, or if it’s a premium plugin, that it will be surprisingly inexpensive.

(Whatever you need done, there’s a WordPress plugin for that!)

And, if by any chance such a WP plugin has not been created yet, then one can most certainly be created for you for a very reasonable price.

Hopefully, this information has given you a better understanding of WP plugins – what plugins are and how they can significantly to improve your WP website. See our published posts to learn more about usingplugins.

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