WordPress® All-in-One For Dummies®

Getting Started with Popular Free Plugins

Okay, here's a no-cost way to jump into the world of plugins: a list of five popular free plugins in the WordPress Plugin Directory.

• Google XML Sitemaps: Everyone who wants a blog or Web site indexed correctly by major search engines should use this plugin. A sitemap makes it easier for the search engines to see the structure of your Web site and know where to look for your content. The Google XML Sitemaps plugin is one we cover in Book V, Chapter 5 — read up on the features and benefits this plugin has to offer.
• All in One SEO Pack: This plugin optimizes your WordPress blog or Web site for search engines. In other words, it makes it as easy as possible for search engines to find and use your site. It has a multitude of features you can use to help make your blog or Web site more search-engine –friendly.
• Contact Form 7: If you want to create simple-but-flexible forms to put on your Web site, this great plugin offers many features, including Captcha, spam filtering, and file uploading.
• WordPress.com Stats: This plugin from the creators of WordPress shows you simple statistics on your page views, popular posts, and incoming traffic. This plugin requires an API key, which you can get by signing up for a free WordPress.com account at http://en.wordpress.com/signup.
• NextGEN Gallery: This plugin has many handy features for managing your photos and images, such as a Flash slide show, sortable albums, image tags, and customizable templates. Even ...