But there are also a standard set of plugins that I install on almost every WordPress site I set up.  These plugins add to your WordPress site what I consider required functionality.

I’ll list the plugins below, along with a brief explanation of what each plugin does, in no particular order. In other words, the order has nothing to do with relevance, but simpy how my brain compiled the list. I”ll provide links to each plugin home page, but you can probably install all of these plugins from your WP Dashboard (Plugins > Install New) and then just do a search for the plugin.  Also, all the plugins listed here are compatible with WordPress 2.8

01. Context Widget

Context Widget helps you manage your (sidebar) widgets. This plugins gives you the ability to assign each widget to specific pages on your site.  If you are familiar with Joomla, Context Widget accomplishes what modules assignments in Joomla does.

02. WP Spam Free

WP Spam Free is an extremely powerful anti-spam plugin for WordPress that eliminates comment spam, including trackback and pingback spam. It works invisibly without CAPTCHA’s, or other inconvenience to site visitors. The plugin includes spam-free contact form feature as well.

03. All in One SEO

All in One SEO optimizes your blog for search engines and helps to make your Blog SEO friendly. You are able to set Page Titles, Meta Keywords, Meta Description, etc. Several options to setup, so make sure to visit the plugin config panel after you install. You’ll find it under your Settings tab.

04. Google XML Sitemaps

Google XML Sitemaps generates a XML-Sitemap compliant sitemap of your WordPress blog. Although not always needed, a sitemap is important if you post regularly. An XML sitemap will ensure that all your posts and pages will be indexed by Google

Google XML Sitemaps also updates Google, MSN Live Search, ASK.com, and Yahoo when your blog is updated.

05. Contact Form

A contact form gives your blog readers the option to send you messages directly without putting your actual email address on your blog.

WP Spam Free plugin includes simply contact form, but I generally use Contact Form 7 for a basis contact form. If you need more features for your contact form, I recommend using CformsII

06. WP Super Cache

WP Super Cache is a static caching plugin for WordPress. It generates html files that are served directly by Apache without processing comparatively heavy PHP scripts. By using this plugin you will speed up your WordPress blog significantly.

07. WP-DB Backup

WP-DB Backup allows you easily to backup your core WordPress database tables. It automatically backs up your website, with the option to email you the Database backups at a scheduled time. Enough said. We ALL know we need backups!

08. Maxblogpress ping optimizer

Maxblogger ping optimizer — When you publish or edit an article, your WordPress setup pings / notifies blog listing services. Too many pings can result in banned posts, and in the extreme case, your blog site may be banned. So if you tend to edit your posts multiple times, I recommend installing this plugin.

09. Feedburner Feedsmith – RSS Subscriber Stats

Feedburner Feedsmith changes the default feed addresses in WordPress to your feedburner address and also moves RSS subscribers on the old feed setup, to the new feedburner RSS. You will probably use Feedburner to offer RSS to your readers, so Feedburner Feedsmith is a must.

010. Subscribe to Comments

Subscribe to Comments allows people to receive email notifications when a comment is added to a blog entry, thereby increasing  the chance of a visitor returning to your website. It’s a great community builder, as it makes it easy for people to follow the comments on your posts.

011. Embed It

Embed It allows you to incorporate any  HTML code (including Youtube, Metacafe, Ustream.tv, affiliate code… ) into your WordPress posts. Simple to use and works perfectly.  A must have for your WordPress site if you want to embed HTML code into your posts and pages.

That’s a Wrap…

Well, not exactly, as there are hundreds of really useful WordPress plugins.  But I’ve tried to include the plugins that I think are necessary for just about any WordPress site. If you would like to recommend another plugin, please leave a comment or send me an email.

• Beautiful yet functional design;
• Well written code;
• Great support;
• Ease of use;
• Easily able to customize.

Just an fyi: None of the links on this page are affiliate links. Yes, I believe in affiliate accounts when it’s a product you use or would use yourself and that you totally love! But for this post, I want you to feel secure — knowing my recommendations are unbiased — so that you can comfortably explore the various WordPress themes [read > you don't have to wonder if I'm only recommending a certain theme because I have an affiliate account ]

Ready, Set, Go…

01. WooThemes

WooThemes provides beautiful and highly functional themes built on a solid code framework. Each themes comes with multiple theme styles, as well as a WordPress backend that allows you to easily set the theme options.Spend some time in their demo section to experience first hand how the different themes look and work.

They offer a Standard ($70) and a Developer package ($150) for each theme.  So what’s the difference? Well, if you like the design and styling of the theme as it is, then a standard package will work for you. But if you want to have the theme customized, I recommend you download a developer package as it comes with a fully layered Adobe Photoshop file.

WooThemes

02. Elegant Themes

Elegant Themes provides some really beautiful themes, all of course expertly coded in valid XTML/CSS. As the designer says:

I created this website to provide WordPress themes of quality and integrity. I craft my themes with a goal of simplicity and professionalism and strive to inject each design with a dose of modest elegance. I believe that your website is not just a tool, it is an integral part of your identity. My job is to respect each customer by providing attractive and userfriendly templates that will help you achieve your online goals.

And he really does all of that and more!

A 1 year membership costs $19.95 and you’ll then have access to his WordPress themes. Really worth exploring.

Elegant Themes

03. Frugal Theme

“The Ultra Clean WordPress Theme” as creator Eric Hamm says. This is an amazingly clean yet powerful theme/framework to build upon.  I personally love it. Don’t let the minimalist appearance deceive you — there’s a lot of power under the hood.

You’ve got three options: Free, Premium, and Professional.

If you like the look, you can always start out with the free option and then upgrade later. And, yea, Eric provides amazing support even for the free version! I totally recommend that you spend some time exploring the Frugal theme.

Frugal Theme

04. Thematic

Thematic is what’s called a WordPress Framework. Essentially that means it’s a base from which to build other themes.  And it is a powerful, elegant, and rock solid framework.  Ok, so you may not be looking to build a theme on Thematic — which is totally cool — because others have already done that.  So take a look at the Store to explore some of the child themes built with Thematic.

Ian offers fantastic support in his forums for the free Thematic framework, as well as for the child themes. OH, yea, and there are also some free child themes, so make sure you check those out as well.

Thematic

05. Thesis

Thesis Theme for WordPress has unbelievable customization options, all from a totally user friendly WordPress backend. If you like the look and feel of Thesis, then you definitely want to consider it for your site. Go there… now… and check it out. It’s fabtastic!

Thesis

To be continued…

I can’t really “conclude” this post, because the WordPress theme community is continually growing and expanding. But this will help you begin to explore the various themes available.  I’ll update this list when I find other great themes. And, if you would like to recommend a theme, please leave a comment or contact me.

In this post, I’ll recommend only Joomla templates that I have or would use myself.

I use the following criteria when selecting a Joomla template:

• Beautiful yet functional design;
• Well written code;
• Great support;
• Ease of use;
• Easily able to customize.

I’ll also introduce you to the world of Joomla frameworks and recommend a few you may want to explore.

Just an fyi: None of the links on this page are affiliate links. Yes, I believe in affiliate accounts when it’s a product you use or would use yourself and that you totally love! But for this post, I want you to feel secure — knowing my recommendations are unbiased — so that you can comfortably explore the various WordPress themes [read > you don't have to wonder if I'm only recommending a certain theme because I have an affiliate account ]

Joomla Templates

01. Joomlart

Joomlart offers both templates and extensions, all available via their club membership. Support forums are active and helpful when you need help installing or configuring templates and extensions.

02. JoomlaJunkie

Joomla Junkie has some great templates for their club members, and they are also currently developing the Morph framework for Joomla.  They are also in the process of rebranding themselves as ProThemer, where they will provide templates and themes for other CMS applications.

03. JoomlaShack

Joomla Shack has some fabulous Joomla templates available for individual sale (not via club membership). Rock solid, great support.

04. YooTheme

YooTheme has a lot to offer, so be prepared to spend some time exploring their templates, extensions, and their Warp5 framwork.  They’ve got awesome stuff — really, check out their extensions!  And some really awesome templates as well.

05. RocketTheme

Rocket Theme has some awesome templates, as well as some really cool extensions, all available as a Club member.  They have a lot to offer, so you will want to explore the various options.  Some of their themes are also customized to work easily with the K2 framework.

Joomla Frameworks

So what are frameworks?  Well, each one will give it’s own definition but essentially it’s a framework that you build on, a set of building tools that make Joomla template development easier while providing extended functionality.  I have personally only experimented with K2, and I was definitely impressed with it’s ease of use and power to create pretty much any kind of Joomla site that I wanted.   But frameworks are not necessarily for Joomla beginners.  I would recommend getting really comfortable with Joomla’s core system before diving too deep into one of these emerging frameworks.  But once you are comfortable with Joomla, you will want to explore frameworks.

01. Morph

From the Morph guys:

Morph is the new rapid template development framework we are developing for Joomla 1.5 users. Please note that Morph is not your average Joomla template, but a whole new concept.

Morph is still in Beta, but you can read all about it’s development and and play with the interactive demo on the Morph site.

02. K2

K2 is a content component or, as the developers define it:

Using K2, you can transform your Joomla! website to a news/magazine site with author blogs, product catalogs, work portfolio, knowledge base, download/document manager, directory listing, event listing and more, all this bundled under one package!

You’re not limited to just reading or experimenting with K2. Download it for free, install it on a Joomla test site, and see for yourself the power and flexibility it gives your Joomla site.

03. Warp5

Warp5 developers describe it like this:

Warp5 is a fast and powerful template framework for Joomla. It lets you create sophisticated templates in no time, even for comprehensive websites.

The Warp5 framework works alongside the newer YooTheme templates, so you’ll need to spend some time exploring Warp over on the YooTheme website.

That’s all for now…

But known that I will update when I discover new templates/frameworks for Joomla. And please leave a comment if you would like to recommend other Joomla template/framework options.

So whenever you discover the need for additional functionality, you want to head over Joomla extensions and begin your research. And I highly recommend that you research carefully the various options before deciding and installing a plugin or extension.  Seriously, taking the time to read the reviews will help you decide which extension is best for you.  It’ll also clue you in to any potential problems.

I’ll list the plugins below, along with a brief explanation of what each plugin does, in no particular order. In other words, the order has nothing to do with relevance, but simpy how my brain compiled the list.

01. eXtplorer

eXtplorer is a web-based File Management Component for all your needs. It has a desktop-application-like interface with drag&drop, grid and a directory tree. You can use it to access and modify the files and directories on your server via FTP or direct file access.

eXtplorer runs natively under Joomla! 1.5.x, 1.0.x and can also be used as a standalone app.

02. jSecure Authentification

jSecure Authentification creates an additional security layer to your administrator log in page by requiring an additional access key.  Since any web user can easily know the site is created in Joomla  by typing the URL to access the administration area (i.e. www.site name.com/administration), this is a really important plugin to install.

03. Joomla Pack

Joomla Pack is a backup component for Joomla.  It creates a site backup that can be restored on any Joomla-capable server. The backup and restore process is AJAX powered to avoid server timeouts, even with huge sites. Alternatively, you can make a backup of only your database. If you want a reliable, easy to use, open source backup solution for your Joomla! site, try it out.

04. XMap

Xmap is a site map generator component for Joomla that allows you to create a map of your site using the structure of your menus.

05. Mod_html

Mod_html is the module I mentioned in the Joomla FAQs when I answered the question about how to add html or affiliate code into your Joomla 1.5 article.  Well, this module is what gives you the ability to do just that. Mod HTML allows you to add any HTML snippet or JavaScript code to your Joomla 1.5 Website via a module.

06. All Videos Reloaded

All Videos is an all-in-one media management solution for Joomla. You can use the plugin to easily embed videos hosted on popular services like YouTube, Metacafe, Vimeo (and many more) inside your Joomla! articles (content items). Additionally, it allows you to playback almost any video/audio file type directly from your server or a remote server, giving you the competitive edge when it comes to rich media content.

To be continued…