WordPress plugins for blogs
Ooh I love a good plugin! I get a geeky buzz when someone gives me the heads up about a plugin I haven’t used before. Especially, when I know that it will either, save me time or make my life easier. THAT, I love!
I love WordPress, however the basic platform lacks some functionality and so we thankfully can add on a wide range of functionality by using WordPress plugins; some free and some premium.
First off, I need to say sorry to all those people who are on Blogger, this post will not please you, but you never know it might encourage you to move to WP!
This post will not be in order of preference, as I love them all and I’m sure you wouldn’t be able to pick a favourite child… well it’s the same for me… #saddo.
Without further ado, here goes, my 39 amazing WordPress plugins for blogs
- EDITORIAL CALENDAR (*whispers, probably is my favourite WordPress plugin*) – I don’t know how I coped for so long without this. It’s amazing, giving you a rolling calendar which you drag and drop draft posts onto. You can move them around, click into edit and you can also have a draft section at the side for posts you haven’t allocated a date to yet. If you’re a visual planner get this now.
- EVERGREEN POST TWEETER – This little beauty kindly tweets out your old posts for you. You can set it to only tweet certain categories, tags or a certain age of post. Then just adjust the frequency and forget about it. A great way to give your archive some love, with minimum effort.
- DUPLICATE POST – If you do a series, a feature or join in with the same linky each week, then this will make your life so much easier. This plug in adds a ‘Copy to a new draft’ button in the section which allows you to schedule. So all you do is go into the published post you want to copy, click the button. Then go back to you calendar and you will see a duplicate post in drafts. Then you can drag this onto the calendar where you want it and use this post as the starting point of your new post.
- AKISMET – The must-have spam filter, which has blocked so much spam from my site. Probably one of the most important WordPress Plugins for blogs.
- JETPACK – This does so much. Stats, email subscribers, contact forms and lots more. Here is a full run down of all its features. If you move from WordPress to self hosted WP, Jetpack will make everything look the same as it was before! I mainly use it for daily stats, looking at referral sites and most popular posts. You can also activate as much or as little of the plugin as you like. So if you want to keep your own email service provider (which I would recommend!) then just deactivate that section of the plugin.
Already want to pin 39 amazing WordPress plugins for blogs – scroll down!
- WP – DRAFTS FOR FRIENDS – This is so handy, it allows you to share a particular post as it will look on your blog before it is published. Great when a brand or PR wants to see a post before it goes live.
- WHO STOLE THE JUSTIFY BUTTON! – Adds back into the editing panel the ability to block justify your text within posts.
- WP ULTIMATE RECIPE – A fab plugin that enables you to produce a recipe card, which can be printed.
- BETTER DELETE REVISION – Did you know that each time you hit ‘save draft’ your blog stores that file and even when you publish your post, all the previous versions are stored and will be clogging up your blog? This genius plugin deletes all the drafts of published posts.
- SHAREAHOLIC – This plugin makes it easy for people to share your blog posts. It pops a block of network buttons under each post.
Need more WordPress plugins for blogs?
- CYCLONE SLIDER – Allows you to create a sliding image based widget for your sidebar. You could use this for current competitions, blog categories, top posts, whatever you want to highlight.
- UPDRAFT PLUS – A great, reliable way to back up your blog to various different destinations, including Dropbox.
- WORDPRESS POPULAR POSTS – Gives you a widget that you can pop on your sidebar to display the posts getting most hits. This is really useful in making your blog sticky and showing social proof (people like to go with the crowd).
- WP GOOGLE FONTS – The flexibility to use different fonts within your WordPress blog.
- GOOGLE XML SITEMAPS – Even if you’ve done an amazing job of optimising all of your posts for SEO, you still might not rank. A sitemap can help. The Google XML Sitemaps plugin is one of the most popular for giving your site just what it needs. By creating an XML sitemap, your site is much easier for Google to crawl and read, helping your site rank higher.
- YOAST SEO- A fab and super easy way to make sure your posts are SEO friendly!
- PINTEREST WIDGETS – Enables you to create a board widget to pop in your side bar or into posts.
- JQUERY PIN IT BUTTON FOR IMAGES – Gives you a grayed out picture when someone hovers over an image and a pin it button. You can customise the button with a different image if you wish.
- ULTIMATE NOFOLLOW – The quick way to change your links to nofollow, just by clicking one button. No need to learn code.
Want some more? Here are more amazing WordPress plugins for blogs
- GOOGLE ANALYTICS DASHBOARD FOR WP – All the power of Google Analytics right there on your dashboard.
- ALL-IN-ONE SCHEMA.ORG RISH SNIPPETS – You’ve probably seen posts with Rich Snippets in the search results. They have extra information like prices or star rating, featured images etc. They increase the likelihood of a link getting clicked. This plugin makes it really easy to add this information.
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WP SUPER CACHE – We all know sites need to be fast and reliable website. Caching a WordPress site is something that helps both of these, meaning pages load faster.
- WORDFENCE – This security plugin adds an extra layer of protection by locking out people who try to hack their way into your blog. It even blocks IP addresses of bots trying to gain access. You can customise email alerts to be sent to you if anything suspicious is going on.
- HEAD AND FOOTER SCRIPT INSERTER – Makes it super easy to install the header script code that you need to add for third parties such a Facebook and Pinterest.
- WP OPTIMISE BY XTRAFFIC – Internal links help visitors travel through your site and consume more of your content. With WP Optimise you can associate certain keywords with specific blog posts. So, every time you use one of these keywords in your content, the plugin automatically builds an internal link to the relevant URL. Amazing!
- MILOTREE POP UP – Mobile friendly pop up which you can customise to promote any platform or straight to your email list.
- PRETTY LINK – “Shrink, beautify, track, manage and share any URL on or off of your WordPress website. Create links that look how you want using your own domain name!” This makes it so much easier the remember links to certain posts. You can also track the number of hits per link.
- RAPIDOLOGY BY LEADPAGES – A handy free plugin that allows you to delivery content upgrades in numerous ways. Pop ups, locked pages, hello bars and lots of other options.
- WP DASHBOARD NOTES – A Post-it-style plugin that lets you pin post ideas to the WordPress dashboard.
Are you loving these WordPress plugins for blogs?
- SIMPLE 301 REDIRECTS – Redirect your visitors to other pages on your site. Great if you find another site linking to an incorrect url on your blog. Set a redirection from that missing URL to an existing one.
- STEALTH PUBLISH – Allows you to publish a post which doesn’t appear on the top of your feed neither is it email out to your list.
- WP SMUSH – The fastest, easiest and best-performing image compression plugin for WordPress.
- NEXTSCRIPTS: SOCIAL NETWORKS AUTO-POSTER – SNAP publishes nicely formatted messages to your social networks accounts. You can reach the most audience and let all your friends, readers and followers about your new post automatically. Plugin works with profiles, business pages, community pages, groups, etc. It can even be used for sharing to StumbleUpon.
- Q2w3 FiIXED WIDGET – Using the “Fixed widget” option allows your added widget to always be in sight when page is scrolled down or up. There’s no problem to “fix” or “stick” more than one widget even located in different sidebars. Which is super clever.
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P3 (Plugin Performance Profiler) – Not all plugins were created equal and some can harm rather than help your site’s performance, slowing it down. The P3 plugin measures the load times of all plugins active on your site and reports it back to you, so you can fix the issue.
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CLICK TO TWEET – This tool allows you to create “Click To Tweet” boxes anywhere in your blog post, making it simple for readers to share your content on social media.
- MAX MEGA MENU – Great WordPress plugin for creating what’s called “mega menus” in WordPress. Basically, a mega menu is a large menu that features a custom layout and contains multiple different elements (not only links). Great for sites that offer their visitors a lot of content.
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REGENERATE THUMBNAILS – When you change themes and all the standard image sizes change, it can mean your photos end up blurry and losing quality. Regenerate Thumbnails plugin will simply regenerate your media to the new required size without loss of quality.
- ALL 404 REDIRECT TO HOMEPAGE – A simple WordPress plugin that redirects all your 404 pages to your homepage. For example, if you have deleted an old post or someone has typed in a wrong URL of your blog then they will be automatically redirected to your homepage.
Do you use any WordPress plugins for blogs that are not on this list? I would love to know which is your favourite WordPress plugin?
LIKE IT? THEN PIN IT!
39 amazing WordPress plugins for blogs
Comments 135
Another fab post from you Mrs – I knew a lot of these but not all! Off to find out more about them. Love your tutorial posts, they’re great for new and established bloggers alike!
Author
Thanks so much hun. That is really kind of you to say that, I love writing these posts xx
Agreeed! This is getting bookmarked in gold (is there a plugin for that?) – I also need to take a few leaves out of your book (or just the book) and actually schedule things…I have the editorial calendar but I tend to write each post on the day it’s published. What a rookie.
Author
You can have the book huni! 🙂 Scheduling ahead makes me feel so much better but doesn’t always happen xxx
I so need to make the love from blogger to WP. They seem worlds apart. There’s no way I can move it myself though. Aaaagh! Really want to use all these plug ins!!! Xxx
Author
I think some hosting companies will move for you, xx
Really? I think I would prefer this to the worry of losing stuff/not redirecting properly. Will check it out, thanks xx
Author
If not the hosting company then there will be someone who can do it for you. What about Zoe Corkhill, I’m sure she would for you x
Thanks Aby I found someone to do it! Moving over to WP soon eeek! X
Author
How exciting! I hope it all goes well xx
Ooh I’m on WP. Such a helpful post thanks Aby. More homework for me. You should start your own blogging classes. I’d be there every week 🙂
Author
Ha ha! I am still learning myself, but glad it is useful x
I’m awful when it comes to using plugins. The only ones I am using are jet pack, yoast and akismet. I haven’t looked into using any other ones because I don’t know what they really do.
Author
Hopefully this will show you what they all do (or at least 20 of them!) x
Hey thanks for the mention! Please contact me at the above address for a free license to commentluv premium 🙂
Author
Thanks very much Andrew
And this is why I loved you! I moved over to WP on your recommendation and now I get to play with these plugins too! A few I haven’t tried so will have a play tonight! Thanks hun! x
This is a great list Aby, will be checking some of these out. Thank you so much for sharing
Author
My pleasure hun x
I’ve just added most of these, thanks for the tips!
This is amazing! I have been blogging for nearly 6 years and hadn’t heard of some of these plugins. The duplicate one is going to save me hours. Thank you xx
Author
Duplicate post is awesome. I used to copy and paste, but this is so much quicker xx
Thanks for this great list, will check them out. I love the sound of Evergreen Tweets 🙂
#MMWBH
Quite a few I haven’t got! So I’ll being using this guide well I think 😉 #MMWBH
Sounds like some great plugins there, thanks for sharing, I’m off to check some of them out. #MMWBH
Thanks for sharing, there’s a couple on here I’ll be investigating – I’d never heard of better delete revision before, that definitely something I need. #MMWBH
Author
It really quickened my blog x
Brilliant tips Aby, thanks for sharing! I’ll definitely be adding a few of these gems 🙂
Author
My pleasure huni, glad it is useful. Have fun adding them x
Thank you for posting this! I am never sure what plugins to use where so this has been really helpful!
Emma | frillsanddoodads.com
Author
I am glad it is helped hun x
Fab list. Am off to install the Instagram slider thingy 🙂 x x
Author
Thanks hun, have fun! x
This is fab, I have got some of them. I love Jetpack, yoast & Akismet. I am going to add the delete the drafts one & backup. Thanks for sharing this. : )
@Nortonmum
Author
My pleasure, glad it is useful for you x
Excellent post – am pretty new to blogging so this list of plugins is great! Am off to download some now!
WHERE has this been all my life???? AMAZING!! See, I told you! GURU!!! Another YouBabyMeMummy post in my favorites bar!! 🙂 xxxx #BrilliantBlogPost xxxx
Author
Ha ha! I am really glad you liked it and that it is useful. Mwahh xxx
Thanks hun, this list is super useful. I have just installed 3 plugins from your list. I wish I had some to share but alas I only went self-hosted last week so plugins are very new to me. But my hubby recommends Slimstat for tracking visitors etc – its different to google analytics, and less work to set up than.
Kat x
Author
Glad it was useful x
Fab post. My husband always reminds me not to overload as blogs are like cars and can get too full of plug ins that slows them down, I’m a bit obsessed with speed too! I use a NO Follow plug in so I can choose what is a follow or no follow and I like the Broken plug in among others that helps me check and update, remove links. Thanks for linking up to #brilliantblogposts x
Author
Yes that is right and always make sure they are being updated regularly before you install them x
well I’m surprised I have a lot of these! clap clap….obviously not all of them though otherwise I would be a lot more organised! great tips as always- you should write a blogging know-how book! #TheList xx
Author
ha ha! Not sure about that, but I like writing the blogging posts xx
Great post, and added a few to our blog thanks.
Author
Happy to help x
Great post! I’ve only recently gone over to WordPress and I now see the obsession with plugins! I can see my obsession growing fast! #brilliantblogposts
Author
Thanks! Glad it is useful for you. x
Great list, but Nrelate is closing down 🙁 at the end of the year.
Author
Yes they hadn’t announced that when I wrote this post x
Amazing post – I am off to get all of these plug ins!!! Thank you for taking the time to do this 🙂 #BrillBlogPost
Author
Absolutely my pleasure x
Handy tips. There’s couple I fancy that I can see being really useful. Many of the others I use. Although the problem is, I need to reduce the plugins I use instead of increasing them!
I have to say though, auto archive tweets can be seriously annoying when it’s the same tweet being sent out several times the same day or week. I get really annoyed seeing them, and much prefer manual archive tweeting.
Also – you promote commentluv but don’t use it? Or is it only on some posts. I love it, because it makes it so much easier to go and pay a commenter’s blog a visit.
Author
Glad some of it is useful. I understand that it can be annoying to some but my timeline for other people is full of repeated tweets and I can’t say it bothers me. It only takes less than a second to scroll past them, if they don’t interest me. I think people should do what works for them and gets them page views.
I have it installed, but have just swapped to the premium version, so I guess it is not working properly, will check it out. I just click through the name on the comment to return visits. x
Ooh I am so glad I saw this, I love trying new plug ins! 🙂
Author
So do I, it is like an addiction 🙂 x
V helpful! So useful to know about the Evergreen app, I wondered how people were re-posting things on Twitter so regularly!! x
Author
I use evergreen for hourly random tweet and social oomph for the rest x
ooooo thank you!! These are going to be very, very handy as we start out on the WordPress journey. The editorial calendar is a definite – I’ll make good use of that one for sure!!!
Author
Ooh good luck. I LOVE the editorial calendar x
This is so much help. Thanks for the tips and I’m glad I found you on Twitter!! I look forward to reading more of your posts.
Just installed a few of these (quite a few actually) I was trying to get NRELATE but it doesn’t seem available anymore 🙁 is there another similar that you would suggest?
Author
I need to update this. I use Sharealohic now x
I’m really considering making the change over from blogger to wordpress. I love the idea of all these plugins! I need to find out how I do it!
Kay | http://www.mummyburgess.co.uk xxx
Author
I think some bloggers have moved and written posts on how to do it x
They all sound good… now… I just need to find the time to install them! Actually the calender I’ve been meaning to do for ages. It sounds great.
Author
Hope they help you x
Hey Aby! I am making the move from wp.com to .org – this post is very helpful. however, I lurrvee my theme but have discovered I can’t move it – sob! I’m not really keen on paying again though. Can I ask, do you use a basic / free theme that you customized with changing the background colours and using font plugins etc.? Or did you buy a theme and then customize? Thanks for the help – want as much knowledge as possible before I make the leap!
Author
I use a free theme and then the lady that did my design uploaded the header, buttons and background. I then used WP google fonts plug in to change the fonts. I hope that helps x
Thank you – yes very helpful indeed! I have gone for it so am nervously looking forward to tweaking and setting things up once I’ve migrated over to the big boys!
Author
Good luck! x
Brilliant tips, hun! Just installed ‘ultimate nofollow’ Will save some faffing!
Great post! I use so many of these already but have just installed the duplicate post one. I tried editorial calendar but couldn’t get on with it – mainly because I like to have a paper planner for everything but I can understand why so many people love it – the drag and drop was genius x
thank you for sharing article with us
here few more wordpress plugins, which i have mentioned
Premium – Easy Digital Downloads Extensions
FREE – Cart66
FREE – Easy Digital Downloads
FREE – WooCommerce
FREE – Crowdfunding
Premium – LoveIt Pro
FREE – WP Post Ratings
WordPress Social Sharing Plugins
Premium – ATT Social Pop
FREE – JetPack Social Sharing
WordPress Caching Plugins
FREE – WP Super Cache
FREE – W3 Total Cache
Premium – WP Engine
WordPress Notification/Alert Bar Plugins
Premium – FooBar
FREE – WordPress Notification Bar
WordPress Slider Plugins
Premium – Layer Slider
Premium – Slider Revolution
Premium – NivoSlider
This is such a helpful post! Just got the calander plugin and it is fantastic! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Brilliant post! I’ve just gone through and installed a load of new plugins from this list! Thanks!
Author
My pleasure, glad it was useful x
Perfect timing, I have just been looking at what plugins I need. I love the editorial calendar, the organiser in me gets so excited to see it all planned in! #saddo! Thanks for sharing Hun x
OMG, I can’t wait to try some of these on my shiney new WordPress blog. I can finally get Editoral Calendar! Yay!! I’m such a geek 🙂 x
Thank you for always being a great research for blogging. I’ve learned a lot of things. I’ve found lots of good plugins from you. I love Editorial Calendar, SumoMe, Better Delete Revision and Evergreen Post Tweeter. Definitely trying out Updraft Plus, WP – Drafts for Friends and Cyclone Slider. Great list!
Another really great post! I can’t even work out how to add plug ins to my site :-/ Do I need to go self-hosted to be able to do this? Sorry this is probably a really stupid question! #thelist
I have returned to this post so many times. Drafts for Friends is something I need in my life 🙂 #TheList
If you don’t already know how much I love you for introducing me to the Editorial Calendar plugin, THANK YOU once more! I love so many of these – there are a couple I haven’t used yet though, thanks for sharing lovely! x x #TheList
A fantastic post! Thank you so much, I have added some fantastic plugins that I was in dire need of..you are my lifesaver 😀
Sammy @ http://Www.bargianbaglady.com {xx}
After reading this the first time I got editorial calendar and now I wouldnt be without it. Hands down best plugin I use!
Aby, this is such a great list of plug ins. Since reading your posts I’ve downloaded at least one, and have another two or three I want to add still. I love your blog posts, they are some of my favourites on your blog 🙂 Thanks for sharing. Emily #TheList
fab as always, your blog is always my first port of call when I looking for help with all things blog related! x
Such a handy post, every time I get a spare moment I set up another PlugIn. Thank you so much for sharing xx #TheList
swear to god aby you are re-writing my blog with every helpful post ha ha thanks again
#thelist
My husband won’t be impressed – I *was* up to date and having a blogging free weekend. But am too excited by some of these plugins! Haha, thanks Aby! X
#TheList
Such a useful post! I saw that you were using SumoMe recently and tried to add to my own blog but the Plugin just won’t work for me so I gave in. It wouldn’t let me sign in, I should probably email them and query it as it looks like such a good plugin.
Thanks for sharing, there’s some new ones here that I haven’t come across before as well 🙂 X
Great list. I use a few of these, some I decided to forego because I’ve already got over 20 and want to reduce them. Askimet is the lifesaver though – it’s horrific the thousands it’s stopped in the last 3 years!
The Evergreen post tweeter sounds amazing! #thelist
I have quite a few of these but can spot a few that would be handy for me to install, thanks lovely!xx #TheList
I have seven of these and I will look into some more that your mentioned. They look like great tools to have! Thanks so much for hosting #thelist
A very useful post, thanks – have pinned 🙂
A brilliant informative post really helpful thanks for hosting #thelist
A useful post thanks Aby BUT I think (and please do correct me if I’m wrong because I am still getting my head round this), I can’t use as I’m not self hosted yet? I am investigating taking the plunge to move everything over to self hosted (I’d love it if you could do a bog tutorial on this PLEASE!) Thanks for hosting #TheList xx
Thanks for another fab post, definitely going to look at applying a few of these to my blog. Thanks for hosting #TheList x
Very comprehensive list and a few plug ins there that I need to explore. Thanks for hosting #TheList
Funnily enough, I have plans to sort out plugins that would be useful to me this weekend, so this is so helpful – thanks! I use some of these. Akismet has been great. I am definitely going to look into evergreen tweeter and duplicate posts. #thelist
I’m going to ta Kyle going self hosted in the next week or two, so this was very helpful, thank you. #thelist
Great post. Off to get me some of those plugins!
I always get something so useful from all of your posts Aby! I’ll definately be downloading a handful of these – I’ve wanted to use different fonts for a while so need to look at Google fonts plugin. Thanks lovely x #TheList
I love Editorial Calendar. I installed it last year after seeing you mention it. It’s brilliant. Thanks for hosting #thelist xxx
Some great tips, thank you. I have been using the evergreen post retweeter for a while now since seeing you recommend it previously. I find it really helpful.
Natalie.x
Loved this post! Thanks so much for sharing. I needed some help in the plugin department and jotted down many that I would find helpful. You rock #TribalLove
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Thank you SO much for this invaluable post! (I will share it!) As a newbie I had no idea of any of this. I am currently working my way through the list! 🙂
A lovely long list to research, you are a star and a true inspiration Aby x #thelinklinky
Great list. I’ve been using the editorial calendar and copy to draft every since you recommended them in one of your lives and they completely changed my blogging. Really need to check out smush x
#TheListLinky
Definitely being bookmarked :). Thank you
So many of these apps sound so useful! I’m going to have to bookmark this so I can come back and remember which ones I want to install!
I’m downloading some of these pronto! Especially the no follow one, that will come in so handy. X #thelist
Thanks this is a great help! #thelistlinky
These all sound great. I love the Yoast one for SEO #thelistlinky
Brilliant collection in one place. This is fab x
I am on blogger at the moment its what I started with and what I know I think its just user friendly but I may migrate eventually so I will remember this post if I do!
This was SO useful Any, not only did I pin it but I wrote it all out into a little book! (Im old fashioned, what can I say!) Thanks so much! x
#thelistlinky
Aby!!! This is pure gold – thank you so much!
Wow… really useful suggestions. I’m glad I stopped by. Thanks so much for the super tools.
Who stole the justify button? THE best plugin ever!
I know this is an old post, but your site is amazing. I am a little confused though, I am on the premium WP plan and apparently I have to be on the business plan to actually use Plug Ins which is £25 per month. Firstly is this correct? And secondly do you think it is worth it? I am a really new blogger but I am doing it as my full time job now. Any tips would be really appreciated
Author
In order to monetise fully and use plugins you need to be self hosted. I would get hosting elsewhere (Siteground for example) and get them to migrate your blog over to their hosting. It will still be a WP blog but a self hosted one and it will be cheaper than 25 quid!
Fabulous Sharing!
I also want to suggest you one more SEO related WP plugin called Trash Duplicate And 301 Redirect. It’s a wonderful plugin that helps to find and delete duplicate contents in your website. And also permanently redirect removed content URL to the main URL to divert traffic to one URL and be safe from being penalized by Google for duplicate content. For more information visit: https://goo.gl/yCswfr
Hi, i absolutely got tons of value from your post. Please i have 2 quick questions.
1. What is the number of plugins every blogger shouldn’t exceed? I currently have about 18 installed, would you consider that number outrageous. Please could you also check out my site and offer me a
2. Your font is really beautiful. would you suggest plugins that would give me beautiful fonts just like yours?
Finally, would you spare a few seconds to check this site and offer me your candid advice
Author
I don’t think there is a set number, some hog resources more than others. 18 is quite a lot, but if you need them all and your site still runs fast then you’ll be ok. There is a Google fonts plugin that might help you.
Thanks for sharing this info. it’s really nice.
Great post. I never knew about evergren post twitter. I’ll be installing that.
great article!
Great post. Thanks!
Hi, i absolutely got tons of value from your post. Please i have 2 quick questions.
1. What is the number of plugins every blogger shouldn’t exceed? I currently have about 18 installed, would you consider that number outrageous. Please could you also check out my site and offer me a
2. Your font is really beautiful. would you suggest plugins that would give me beautiful fonts just like yours?
Author
A few as you can get away with. 18 is a lot, but I’ve seen people who have more. The more you have the slower your site might be.
I cant thank you enough for this wonderful article. I really appreciate your efforts. I have been searching for what plugin to use as I am a newbie here. Thanks a ton.
Thank you so much for the post. I am beginner trying to learn all these. Very useful post.