I’ve come to conclude that every year I need to evaluate my WordPress plugins and decide what’s valuable and what is excess. Sometimes I get in a rut and use the same plugin over and over without looking at what has recently been developed.

Lately, I have been getting a lot of requests on how to 301 pages in WordPress. It is actually a really simple process, but a step that makes it even easier is using a plugin titled, WP htaccess Control.

This plugin makes optimizing your .htaccess file very easy, and therefore, I have added it to my “meat and potato” plugins I use to setup every blog with. I will have to write another post on what all the features are, but in short this plugin gives you access to your .htaccess file via your WordPress admin dashboard.

To setup a 301 with the WP htaccess Control plugin, you need to go to the plugin admin (titled WP htaControl). Here go to the third menu (custom htaccess) and enter the following code (be sure to change the structure and domain for your circumstances:

If you look at my last two post (see here and here) you will notice that in one post I am displaying my code as an image and the other as regular text. In fact, looking at my last entries before the last one they were all images. Every time I tried to add the code to display wordpress would read it as regular code and make my post look funky.

I finally got wise and found a plugin that allowed me to show my code without messing everything up. The plugin is Code Everything and it is super easy. Basically, all you do is add <code> before and </code> after your coding example, and walla you see the example you want to show. I know this really is insignificant, but you have no idea how much time that this little plugin saves me (and hopefully you).

auction-tag One of my favorite things to do is to find wordpress plugins. In fact, the plugins are what made me fall in love with wordpress. There are so many things that you can build and do with plugins. The nice thing is that you don’t have to pay someone to create these programs. I always tell clients, when I am using wordpress as their CMS solution, that there is probably few things they will ever need to build since the wordpress opensource community is so vast.

Currently, I am creating a finance website and was asked to include an auction into the site. Surprisingly, there are not a lot of auction plugins. However, I did find a plugin I was impressed with—wpauctions.com (yes, this is an affiliate link). Unfortunately, to get all the plugin’s functionality you need to put down $40 (they do have a free version you can use to test drive the plugin).

However, for me it was worth it because it added an additional layer to the overall site. The function that was valuable for me was the ability to put an auction into any of my posts or pages. I have a real gripe with ecommerce solutions that require a defined page or post that I am restricted to.

podcast_cr If you ask any of my friends I am passionate about blogging. I even have a vanity license plate that says “Blogger.” So, I admit I am a bit of a fanatic.

However, being the fanatic blogger that I am, I also get the priviledge of being annoyed by certain elements of blogging that probably doesn’t bother the majority of the blogosphere.

My biggest gripe deals with the podcasting element of blogging. I build a lot of blogs and there really isn’t a good free theme for either video or audio. Not to mention that the audio podcast plugins are not that great.

trash-can So, almost a month after Yoast.com’s plugin contest I finally heard a response concerning my plugin submission—no. Actually, it wasn’t quite so direct, below is the response:

“Hi Guys,
apologies for the delay! Joost and I decided to make the eventual winner work harder for their prize, so we asked a couple of the entrants to go back and take their ideas to the point where we can release them. If we haven’t contacted you yet, I’m afraid you are out of the running, but many thanks for having a go! We expect to announce the winner and launch the plugin/theme in a week or so.”

I didn’t hear from them, so I am out. I do understand not winning the contest, WordTravel was a very basic plugin. However, I do have plans on expanding WordTravel to a more versatile plugin, so keep a watch for some upcoming releases. I wish Yoast.com’s plugin finalists the best in the refining of their plugin/theme! ~Paul W.

wordpress-plugin DOWNLOAD WORDTRAVEL
Compatible with WordPress 2.5 through 2.7.1

WordTravel was built with the sunPress plugin in mind. The sunPress plugin helps manage holiday websites by utilizing sunshine.co.uk’s travel affiliate program. Basically, by combining both plugins you have a powerful holiday website that also has the ability to highlight special deals like no other travel website on the web.

Even though WordTravel was built as a supporting plugin for sunPress you can also use WordTravel independently from all plugins for your own purposes. We wanted WordTravel to be a nice compliment for any travel blog or site.

WordTravel One of my favorite bloggers, Joost de Valk, launched a wordpress plugin contest for Sunshine.co.uk, a travel booking company. The prize he is offering is a MacBook Air, and I must admit that I have been thinking of converting to a Mac for sometime (sorry Bill, I don’t want to be a PC).

The plugin I finally decided to create focuses on the marketing side of travel. Why do you go to a travel/vacation website in the first place? Most of my friends I asked shared that they were looking for either a good deal or a particular vacation package.

The plugin I devised (with the programming help of Milan Kaneria) gives a traveling website the power to focus on their most important call to actions with their users. Whether it is cheap airfare, a vacation package, or just information about different locations around the world, this plugin offers a visual but unobtrusive solution to keeping in touch with the user while on the site.

wordpress_logo01.gif I admit I am an addict—I absolutely love wordpress plugins! I actually have one client who pays me to know everything there is to know about plugins. Though, I have to be careful, because once I start hunting for a plugin I generally lose an entire day just searching and playing with them.

Recently, my good friend Ryan from IOVentures Inc. asked if I had written a blog post on my favorite plugins. I have been avoiding this post because it seems that everyone has their top 10 favorite plugins. However, Ryan isn’t the first to ask me, so I guess I will follow the blogosphere crowd and give you my favorite plugins. Hope these help! ~Paul W.

My Top Favority Plugins