There are a lot of ways in which you can make use of plugins in order to add more functionality to your WordPress sites. WordPress powers huge portions of the internet and this means there are a lot of plugins for performing all kinds of tasks on a site. Among the very many plugins, getting the best ones for your site can be a tough job but with this article, it is zoomed down to the very best in order to make it simple for you to get plugins that accomplish most of the popular functions.
In the next few sections, we take a look at some of the best free WordPress plugins that will still give you the same functionality you want on your site without having to incur any extra costs. These are handpicked from the mind-blowing plethora of plugins out there and are guaranteed to serve your needs right. Plugins can be used for social media, user engagement, improving the user interface of your site on a page by page basis, and also improving your experience with widgets. These are just some of the functions that a plugin can perform and it’s just a tip of the iceberg. Whatever you would like to include on your WordPress powered site, there is probably a plugin out there for that very function you’re looking for.
This amazing plugin creates a form on your site where visitors coming to your site can send an email to their friends inviting them to come and register. This is especially useful for sites that have memberships and can really help you grow the membership of your site as your current users can help you promote the site to their friends. It is important to note that this plugin needs you to have registrations enabled in the settings of your WordPress site.
This comes in very handy when you would like to add custom PHP code onto individual pages, posts, or even sidebars on your site. This way, you do not have to alter your template in any way or even create a new template. The entire process is actually quite simple and with a knowledge of PHP programming, you can do wonders on your site. With this plugin, you can create simple snippets of code and add them to pages and posts using custom short codes that you can specify yourself.
In case you would like to have job board functionality on your site, then this is the plugin for you. WP job manager allows people to post job listings directly on your WordPress site. Other features also come with this plugin such as managing the status of a job and even categorizing them on the site. You can also link the job to a website where people get to apply for the job and have email notifications. This is a really good place to get started in case you would like to have a job board on your site.
4. Widget Importer and Exporter
This is one plugin that comes in very useful when you are looking to move your favorite widgets from one site to another. This helps you to use the same widgets on multiple sites and also for backup purposes.
This lightweight plugin shows icons to your social networks on the sidebar of the site. The icons are usually displayed in the new windows 8 metro style and can be linked to your social profiles. You can also add other social networks not included with the plugin and customize it according to your needs.
In order to make the readers of your site engage more on the content, you need to make use of social media. The social locker plugin by OnePress is the best for this and can lock part of the content on your site until a reader has clicked on one of the social sharing buttons. This way, your content gets to have a wider reach as readers will have to share with their social circles. It is however important to note that this plugin should not be used on each and every page on your site. You can have it only on the pages that are of high values thus justifying the need for sharing in order to view the entire content. One good thing with this plugin is that it remembers the people who have already unlocked content by sharing it on their social circles and does not lock content for them again.
7. Advanced Responsive Video Embedder
For those of you who are used to sharing video content on a regular basis, this is a handy plugin that enables you to embed videos from various providers with just a single click. The videos are shown as thumbnails and when clicked, they open in a light box display making the viewing experience clean for the people visiting your site. It also helps to bring about a great user experience on your site as people are able to engage with video content
8. Crowdfunding
Crowd funding has become really popular in recent years with sites such as Indiegogo and Kickstarter. With the crowdfunding plugin, you can create projects that are crowd funded on your WordPress site. You can easily integrate multiple payment providers such as PayPal and Authorize.net. In case you would like to have your project crowd funded but you don’t want to use one of the available site, this is the plugin you need.
9. Page Builder
This is one plugin that allows you a great degree of freedom in the design of your pages. It has a simple interface and with it you can create a completely responsive layout on your website together with all the widgets you need. This is one plugin you definitely need to check out.
So there you have it, some of the best free WordPress plugins you absolutely need to have in your collection. In the world of web design, plugins are absolutely essential in order to get a site up and running in a short time with all the functionality you need.
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