What is your favorite WP widget?

[TommyBoy]

I am trying to figure out what kind of widgets to use on my blogs but there are so many choices.

I welcome any recommendation for niche type blogs. What are your favorites?

[markvsc]

Hey Tommy,

Here's a list of WP plugins that I highly recommend:

Comment Luv - Keyword Luv - Top Commenters - All In One SEO - Google Sitemaps - Share This - Do Follow - AdSense Integrator - Simple Link Cloaking *

[JakeThePeg]

One of my favourite 'out of the box' Wordpress widgets is the RSS widget. You can add a feed from any of your other blogs, to encourage people to click through to other articles within your blog network. If someone is going to click away from your site, they may as well click through to another of your blogs!!

[peetred]

I thought this might help you.. here is my checklist for setting up a new WP blog

All in one SEO pack
XML Google Sitemaps
Adsense Now!
Cystats
Google Analytics for Wordpress
GWA AutoResponder
MaxBlogPress Ping Optimizer
Tell-a-Friend Widget Plugin
TinyMCEAdvanced
YD Recent Posts
Yet Another Related Posts Plugin

change permalink structure: /%category%/%postname%
change privacy settings
expanded ping list
set posts per page to 1

[parg]

Hi Peetred

Thanks you very much for this list. My question is can they be used with the free templates available.

Thanks in advance
Parg

[Diana Lane]

I try to avoid plugin overload, but I like most of the plugins that others have already put forward, as well as Denis de Bernardy's External Links, which I've been using for what seems like forever but doesn't often get a mention whenever this question comes up.

As for actual widgets, if something's going to take up screen space on my sites then it's going to have to justify it and be more than just eye-candy. I like WP-Polls for some sites, not just because it adds to user interaction but because the search engines can read what it produces (not always the case with plugins) and so it gives you an opportunity to include your keywords on the page again. You can even include keywords you've yet to manage to incorporate elsewhere by polling visitors with 'What would you like to see?' and including them in the available options.

[TommyBoy]

Thanks everyone! I see a few that I am going to add tonight.

[nimcus38318]

Good thread! I hope some more people chime in about what their favorite plug ins are. What a cool way to enhance a site!

[TommyBoy]

I just installed WP polls (thanks Diana) as I agree it can invite some interaction with visitors, especially if you ask a question you know people interested in your niche will have strong opinions on.

[David Hamer]

Originally Posted by Diana Lane

As for actual widgets, if something's going to take up screen space on my sites then it's going to have to justify it and be more than just eye-candy. I like WP-Polls for some sites, not just because it adds to user interaction but because the search engines can read what it produces (not always the case with plugins) and so it gives you an opportunity to include your keywords on the page again. You can even include keywords you've yet to manage to incorporate elsewhere by polling visitors with 'What would you like to see?' and including them in the available options.

Hi Tommy

I agree with Diana - i.e. don't go too overboard and install too many unnecessary plugins (I've been guilty of that like many others). Also I agree the WP-Polls is a great Plugin.

Some others I would look at are (In no particular order):

Smart YouTube - Publish YouTube Videos on your Blog
Photodropper - Easily find and Publish Flickr Images
Contact Form 7 - Easily add a Contact form or Feedback form
Addthis - Add Social Bookmarking Button
Twittercounter - Add Number of Twitter Followers (not 100% needed!)
Next Gen Gallery - Add Photo Galleries
Audio Player - Publish Audio
Hana FLV Video Player - Publish your own Video
Tantan Flickr - Publish Your Flickr Images on your Blog
All-In-One Adsense and YPN - Put Google or Yahoo ads on your Blog
RSS Footer - Customize your RSS feed - good for getting more back to your blog
Subscribe to Comments - Keep Commenters updated with latest comments
Simply RSS Fetcher - Show your other Blog feeds or News Headlines
WP Touch iPhone - Make your Blog clearer and easier to use on iPhone
My Page Order - Change the order of your pages on header or sidebar
Akismet - You get this anyway with Wordpress - so use it?
Google Analyticator - Easy way to install Google Analytics on your blog
Google XML Sitemaps - Automatically create XML sitemaps - Important
Platinun All-In-One SEO Pack - Optimize your SEO - Important

and on... and on....

I think you can see that there are lots of plugins out there! Initially I would decide what you need for your blog - e.g. Are you going to publish Video? If so, your own Videos or say YouTube and then hunt out the best plugins.

It can be a bit of a chore finding the right plugins, but when you find a good one, the difference it can make to your blog is incredible.

Like I said earlier and Diana kind of said - just be wary of installing too many - at the end of the day, every plugin you install is basically slowing your site down a bit - some more than others.

If you need any specific help just pm me.

Hope that helps a bit!

Best wishes - Dave

[parg]

Hi
Diana & David

Thanks a lot for sharing your experience. Hope to receive such beautiful tips in future too. Let me start experimenting.

Thanks again
Parg

[thecableguy]

As for widgets I like to use the Category Posts Widget, just download the plugin and it creates the widget. I use Reviewatron and like to keep my posts for different categories separate (Latest Reviews, Articles, etc). Just drop in multiple widgets to create another category.

[rosetrees]

My most commonly used widget is the plain text widget. That's where I add code for Adsense, Aweber etc. I also use plain text widgets for adding pictures into the sidebars. You can use a text widgets to add links to other sites, to add email links - any link. The text widget is the most flexible of all the widgets.

Ps - I notice most posters here have assumed the OP asked about plug-ins - but I don't think that was really the question.

[Big JP]

Some nice information and suggestions here folks, good stuff!