10 Useful WordPress Plugins You Might Not Know

Here are 10 useful WordPress plugins that will make your site more user friendly:

AddToAny:

A share plugin that I love. Why do I love it? Because it's always updated and in tune with the current WordPress version. Because it does so many things that I'm not even aware of (see http://www.addtoany.com).

There's another reason I truly love this plugin — the AWESOME customer service this FREE plugin has.

Have a question? Any kind of question? Just tweet @addtoany or @micropat and you'll get an answer. And not just an answer — real help.

I was having trouble positioning the AddtoAny button (see "Share This" button at the bottom of this post). Pat, aka @micropat, figured out the CSS code that I would need. He also answered all the questions I had about the lastest AddtoAny upgrades — he's one really nice guy.

Antivirus:

There are hackers who like to mess with your site. Antivirus "monitors malicious injections and warns you of any possible attacks." You can set it up to scan daily and email you if there is a problem.

Heads up for Thesis users, the first time you scan each version with Antivirus, you will get warnings about lines that have "require_once". Take a look at the lines and if they look normal, click that it's not a virus and you're all good.

Audio Player:

Have audio you want to stream on your site? Are you a podcaster? Audio Player is the plugin for the job. There are tons of customization options.

Block Bad Queries (BBQ):

Another security plugin. This one protects "against malicious URL requests."

Flash Video Player with HTML5:

If you have a video that you want to show on your site, you could upload it to a video-sharing service (YouTube, Vimeo, etc.) and embed the video. What if the video is too long for YouTube and too business oriented for Vimeo?

What if you didn't want it on a video-sharing service at all? What if you have a membership club and you want only members to see the video?

This is the plugin for you. The wonderful thing about this plugin is that it first looks for the ability to play as HTML5 (so you can watch on an iPad or iPod) and, if it can't find that ability, it will play as Flash.

I recommend you set "Skins" to "Bright."

Please note that the name in your plugin list is "Flash Video Player with HTML5" and its name in the WordPress Plugin Directory is "HTML5 and Flash Video Player." Make sure the plugin is by Rodrigo Violante and you've got the right one. Also, under Settings it is called "Flash Video."

TwitterLink Comments:

I love Twitter (I'm @MillerMosaicLLC) and most of the blog posts that I leave comments on I find from people I'm following. Most of the time when I leave a comment, I have to fill out my name and email address. Then I have the option of entering my URL.

Now I have a dilemma: I know this person from Twitter so I consider filling out my Twitter URL. And then I consider putting our Miller Mosaic URL to encourage people to check out our site. I end up flipping a mental coin.

Don't create this dilemma for the people who visit your site. Allow them the ability to add their Twitter name and a URL of their choice.

Viper's Video Quicktags:

What if you do want to embed videos from a video-sharing service? This plugin is so easy to use as you just need to insert the video's URL — the plugin does the rest of the work for you. You can easily change the size of the video.

WP-Print

Some people might actually want to print out your post or page. Make it easy for them with this plugin. If you set the "Print Comments?" option to yes, then the users get to decide whether they want to print comments.

Setup is a little tricky as you have to know where/how to drop a little php into the right file.

WP Facebook Like

A plugin that lets you have a Facebook "like" button on your site. Easy to setup. Please note that there are several plugins with similar names — get the plugin by Johnny Chadda.

WPtouch

A wonderful plugin that automatically turns your site into an easy-to-read and easy-to-navigate smartphone version. With so many people going online from their smartphones, why wouldn't you have this?

This plugin is the free version. There is a paid one called WPtouch Pro

Important Note: Every plugin you add can slow down the load speed of your site. So consider before you install a plugin and watch your load speeds.

I'm looking for a plugin that backups your site. I've been using Austin Matzko's WP-DB-Backup but it hasn't been recently updated. What plugin are you using to backup your site? Leave your reply in the comments section below.