It is time for an updated list of useful Wordpress Plugins that work with the 2.5.1 version.

I’m not going over 2.6 as it is still in its early stages and not all plugin authors have successfully updated to this version. But I will get to this soon.

Some of these are going to overlap with my previous list as they have been upgraded to work with this version and some I have already discussed in detail in several other posts.

1. Accordion Tabs
   This lets you add Wordpress functions in a tabbed interface. Not only does this look pretty neat but it also saves space. A must have for any blog!
2. Add This Social Bookmarking Widget OR Add To Any
   Both plugins offer your visitors the chance to bookmark your posts and pages. Instead of adding several icons under your post and making them look cluttered, the whole menu pops up AJAX style on mouseover.
3. Adsense Deluxe
   This is a classic and should not need any introduction. It lets you add adsense or YPN ads to your posts at the click of a button. Manage the codes on the plugin settings page.

   An alternate which lets you add either adsense or YPN is the All in One Adsense and YPN. However, I haven’t tested this one yet.

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Once you have visitors to your blog, the point is to keep them reading and keep them coming back. For that you need to keep your content in front of them. Give them easy access to posts they might be interested in.

This means you need to show listings of your most recent posts, popular posts, posts with comments on them and so on and so forth.

And as always Wordpress plugins help.

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Since I design custom blogs for my clients, I have to keep a lookout for plugins that can achieve any effect under the sun. Following is a list of some of the most used plugins:

1. Akismet: This plug-in helps you in stopping comment spam. It also keeps note of comments you mark as spam for future blocking. This is a part of your Wordpress download. You need to install and set it up, though.
2. Search Everything: This plug-in adds search functionality to include pages, tags, attachments, drafts, comments, excerpts and custom fields. It also lets you exclude categories and posts from search.
3. WP-Contact-Form: Give your visitors the option of contacting you via a simple form. The modified version of this plugin comes with a very useful Spam Protection option. See an example

4. Add This: Social Bookmarks allow your visitors to easily submit your posts to social bookmarking sites. Many plugins are available for this purpose including Social Bookmarks, Gregarious and Sociable. I just recently found Add This and although it adds a link to their site, it is less intrusive and less cluttered than the others. You can see the result at the end of this post.

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