WordPress is a great content management system, but most websites need more functionality. Here are the essential plugins we recommend:
- WordFence
- SEO by Yoast
- Gravity Forms (paid)
- WooCommerce (for eCommerce sites – free)
- Shipworks (for eCommerce sites – paid) video
- UpdraftPlus
- Classic Editor. This shuts down the Gutenberg editor and lets you type in html.
Other Useful Plugins
- Revolution Slider (paid) For complex sliders with live type, timing options, responsive features and layers.
- Unite Gallery (free to paid) For simple responsive galleries. Unite Gallery has some beautiful out-of-the-box options. The Free version usually works just fine. More features are available with the paid version.
- Manage WordPress is a paid service that helps developers manage multiple sites, updates and take regular backups in one dashboard. I couldn’t do my job without it.
If You Get Into Trouble
- Your hosting service can usually restore a backup of your site for a fee. It is better to set-up automatic backups, of course.
- Sucuri.net can remove malware from your site for $249. For that price, they monitor your site for a year. I have inherited several badly infected sites over the years, and Sucuri.net has never failed me.
