This is not a definitive list by any means but is a list of five of my favourite WordPress plugins. It is also an excuse to use this blog again. I am not promoting these plugins in any way – I just find them very useful.
Advanced Custom Fields (ACF)
This is the one plugin I would recommend to anyone making a site with WordPress who knows the basics of PHP. Why bother with horrible bloaty software like Visual Composer or Elementor when you can make websites using ACF. The plugin is geared towards developers and provides a clean and reliable interface. Whether you use the free version or the Pro version, the result is a website that is easy to manage but with minimal fuss. Sure, a pagebuilder is great for novices but if you put the time and effort into making a website with ACF then you can achieve the same result but without requests for a ton of stylesheets and scripts.
Download ACF here – https://www.advancedcustomfields.com/
Classic Editor
This is the plugin that shouldn’t really have to exist. One day the devs who volunteer for WordPress decided to force Gutenburg onto everyone. I’m currently writing using Gutenburg and I find it ok to use. However, I still prefer to use the Classic Editor (as do most people) which re-enables the old editor and layout. The plugin will be supported “until 2022 or as long as necessary” so it remains to be seen what will happen with this plugin in the next few years whether it is dumped or carried on.
Download the Classic Editor plugin here – https://wordpress.org/plugins/classic-editor/
Add From Server
I’ve only used this plugin once but it definitely does the job. You can upload massive files into your WordPress media library without having to mess about changing the PHP limits in the php.ini file. You upload your images via FTP to the desired location, then find it via the plugin in the admin and import it. Of course you should be questioning yourself why you’re using a big file in the first place as it would likely effect your core web vitals scores if you actually used it!
Download Add From Server here – https://wordpress.org/plugins/add-from-server/
Yoast Duplicate Post
Whenever I have to set up some dummy posts to test whether pagination is working, I don’t want to have to create a post 12 times. Duplicate Post allows you to duplicate a post however many times you wish. You are able to edit the settings so you can decide what parts should be kept and which bits not when duplicating a post. You can also decide what post types to allow it for. Yoast have taken over the plugin since I last used it, so maybe there will be some exciting changes for the plugin in the future.
Download Yoast Duplicate Post here – https://wordpress.org/plugins/duplicate-post/
ReCaptcha V2 for Contact Form 7
Contact Form 7 is my go to plugin for building a contact form on a WordPress website. They stopped support for Recaptcha V2 some time ago and so many websites across the web would show errors for V3 not working because it was trying to make V3 work with V2 keys. In comes this plugin to save the day and reenable V2 support. It is highly recommended if you prefer Recaptcha V2.
Download ReCaptcha V2 for Contact Form 7 here – https://wordpress.org/plugins/wpcf7-recaptcha/
What are your favourite WordPress plugins? Feel free to leave a comment below or let me know on Twitter.
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