This is a brief summary of my favourite WordPress plugins and the reason I use them. Of my own plugins, I could not be without the oik base plugin, the first plugin I developed, and oik-bwtrace, which I use instead of Xdebug.
Nowadays, some of my plugins deliver and use a number of shared libraries, from functions originally developed in oik, so they are no longer dependent upon oik.
My current favourites are:
For developing sites
- oik-bwtrace – for problem determination.
- gbcptedit – Gutenberg Custom Post Type edit
- query-monitor – Query Monitor
- wordpress-importer – WordPress Importer
For building site content
- oik – the base plugin with shortcodes, blocks and optional enhancements in the admin area.
- oik-fields and oik-types – for defining and displaying post meta data.
I prefer to register custom post types and fields in plugins, but I have found the ability to override registered behaviour using oik-types to be a godsend. - oik-css – a block for defining custom CSS.
- gutenberg – when I need the latest blocks
- other single block plugins
For WordPress Multi Site
- network-privacy – Network Privacy
- ns-cloner-site-copier – NS Cloner Site Copier
- plugin-activation-status – Plugin Activation Status
- wordpress-mu-domain-mapping – Domain mapping for ancient Multi Site networks
The top 12 WordPress plugins
I’ve used most of the top 12 WordPress plugins. Except for WordPress SEO I don’t install a plugin unless some of its functionality is required to satisfy business needs.
| Plugin | Likelihood of using it % | What I use instead | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| wordpress-seo | 99% | – | Every now and then have to deactivate it due to bugs which prevent me getting things done. |
| jetpack | 30% | – | Sometimes used for sharing posts or stats. But it’s a hassle working with wordpress.com |
| akismet | 10% | – | I don’t often accept comments, but may activate Akismet for spam checking content submitted via oik’s contact form. |
| wordfence | 25% | – | It has its uses but I’m not a fan of all the emails it sends. |
| contact-form-7 | 5% | oik’s contact form | |
| elementor | 2% | gutenberg | Elementor’s got some fancy front end features… but not much in the free version. Gutenberg’s not so fancy, but there are plugins & blocks that provide similar functionality. |
| woocommerce | 40% | easy-digital-downloads | It depends what you’re trying to sell. |
| google-analytics-for-wordpress | 1% | google-site-kit | Far too in your face in the dashboard. |
| wpforms-lite | 2% | oik’s contact form | |
| all-in-one-seo-pack | 2% | WordPress SEO | |
| really-simple-ssl | 0% | – | All sites run SSL natively. |
| updraftplus | 0% | – | I prefer external export/backup solutions. See My WordPress development environment |
See also
- bobbingwide for all my repositories.
- oik-plugins.com for downloadable versions of my plugins
- My plugins on WordPress
- oik’s contact form