Plugins are probably one of the most amazing things you could ever have for your WordPress site. They essentially allow you to modify core functionality, add new features, disable uneccessary features, or even just spice things up a bit. Granted there are hundreds of plugins available to fit just about any need possible, there are still times where a plugin may not fit perfectly or incorporates a series of bells and whistles when all you need is one bell or one whistle. With that being said, I can’t really say anything found below hasn’t been done before in some capacity but what will you find below could still prove useful and more direct. Enjoy!
Administration Options
Often times you may have your own methods for managing users and their email addresses for purposes of marketing and newsletters. Though WordPress has a wonderful user registration capability already built in, integrating this with your 3rd party email marketing process can be quite the task. This specific plugin integrates with AWeber Communications for those of you who have accounts with them. It works by seamlessly integrating with your WordPress system such that when a user registers on your site through your standard WordPress registration form and enters their name and email, as they submit the form this information is sent along to AWeber using your WordPress account information to register them with your marketing account.
Administrative Options
Integrates with the WordPress registration process to assist with the registration process for other systems. Meaning, this plugin will simultaneously transmit the user’s information entered in to your WordPress registration page to a URL you specify which can then handle creating a duplicate user account within your other systems on your website. This can be particularly useful when you use WordPress as your primary platform however use other systems such as a forum or eCommerce solution which would require the user to create another account before being able to use that system. You could also use this plugin to interface with third party email marketing systems, utilizing a custom script to send your own welcome messages, initiating custom sessions, or triggering external functions.
This plugin has been replaced by WP Feature Disable. The same functionality, and much more, can be found in this new plugin!
This plugin has been replaced by WP Feature Disable. The same functionality, and much more, can be found in this new plugin!
We have all undoubtedly heard of the new internet sensation, Twitter! Chances are you probably already have a Twitter account or have several friends that do. Well for those of us that do have Twitter, and of course a WordPress blog, there is just something neat about the idea of incorporating them for a little cross-site promotion. Thankfully, Twitter already thought about this and produced quite a wonderful little API to do this. Now, to make it better, I have packaged everything up into a simple little plugin aptly named Humble Twitter which will allow you to display your Twitter Tweets on your WordPress blog. You can put them in your sidebar, before or after post content, pretty much anywhere you want. To top it all off I built in a few different controls that allow you to quickly and easily customize the appearance of your Tweets without having to hack through any files.
Administrative Options
Every once in a while you come across a feature or two that at the beginning seems really neat, but after a little while you realize things could run smoother or more efficiently if that feature wasn’t there. WP Feature Disable is the saving grace when it comes to getting rid of certain WordPress features. The idea is not to disable or harm the blog, but to simply help it be more efficient, use less database space, or simply hide so-called ‘nag’ screens. Turning features on and off is as simple as clicking a check-box and to make things better, nothing is permanent in case you decide you want that feature back later!
