It’s WordPress Wednesday, and it’s getting late, so I wanted to do a quick post about my Top 6 favorite plugins for the backend of my WordPress installation – the things that aren’t obvious but make a big difference in the reliability and effectiveness of your site.  So, instead of a big preamble, here they are:

• WP-Security Scan – This plugin checks your WordPress installation for security vulnerabilities and offers suggestions on fixing them.  I have had some issues with bad people injecting code into my WordPress index pages, and this plugin with the next helped fix some of the holes.
• AntiVirus – This plugin offers some protection against exploits and spam injections, and it’s done a wonderful job (so far) of keeping these types of malware off my sites.
• Akismet – Akismet has been wonderful in weeding out the spam commenters (of which there seem to be 1,000s) on my sites.  I don’t know how I would manage all the spam comments without this wonderful plugin!
• WP-DB-Backup – Database backup is one of those things, like insurance, that is only needed when there’s trouble.  And, if you want to recover years worth of posts, then having a recent backup saves tons of time.  This is the best plugin I’ve found for WordPress backup.
• Google XML Sitemaps – A proper sitemap for Google is necessary for getting your WordPress blog indexed and moving up in the rankings.  This is a simple, easy-to-use plugin that does the trick.
• Google Analytics for WordPress – This plugin helps add Google Analytics code to your site so you can get a better feel for your site visitors and traffic.  And, if you add the Google Analytics Dashboard plugin, the stats are readily available in your dashboard.

These 6 (or 7 plugins with the Dashboard) are indispensable parts of every WordPress site I set up.  Check them out and let me know what you think.

Chuck