Taking Advantage of WordPress Add On Tools on CPA Website Blogs

WordPress blogs give users notable choices as far as the design layout they can choose along with added functionality to their blog in the form of plugins. Other WordPress users  format these plugins, which are then maintained and marketed by WordPress.

What are they?

Anyone with WordPress blogs for their accountant firm websites can add plugins, and there are a multitude of uses and benefits to installing them; both for yourself and for your readers. The plugin could do something as simple as adding a Google Search option to your site or something as advanced as backing up your WordPress directory automatically on a scheduled basis, ensuring you are covered in case of disaster. People use them often because they add a lot of fun, interesting and useful features that would otherwise require a lot of code writing.

Where can you find Plugins for your WordPress blog?

There are several places you can go to find plugins. One of them is within the admin panel of your blog. Your admin panel has a menu item called Plugins.  To install one, simply click install! Another highly suggested option is to go to the official WordPress plugin webpage to search. (http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/) The only downside to this is that you have to download the plugin to your computer first, unzip it, and then upload it to your accountant website’s WordPress blog. Either option is entirely user friendly and basic.  Rarely, people may need to modify security settings on their server to get a particular plugin to work.

Now how do I get my plugin to work?

Once you have found the plugin you would like to use, and if you installed it via the WordPress interface, you will need to activate it under the Plugin menu item.

Unzipped plugin files should be uploaded to wp-content/plugins folder. Then just go to the plugin menu and click activate.  WordPress has made the user interface very user friendly.

Most plugin authors try to create them so they will work immediately, without any additional work, however, some do require that you add some code to your blog template. Additionally, some others require different adjustments aside from coding that need to be completed before the plugin will work. The authors typically provide you with installation instructions on their site, so look for a link in your plugins menu if you need assistance.

Does my plugin work?

After you install the plugin to your blog, you want to verify that the plugin is working correctly. You can sometimes test your plugin right from the plugin settings menu.  Otherwise, simply go to your blog page and test it from there.

Voila!  If your plugin is working, feel free to move on to your next task or to even look into more plugins!

Of course, there is always the possibility that your plugin won’t work right away.  If this happens, double check that you didn’t miss any steps, and you may need to upgrade to the latest version of WordPress for some plugins to work. You should also review the instructions on the plugin authors’ site.

What plugins should I install?

Everyone will have different preferences and needs for their accountant website’s blog. Not all suggested plugins will be relevant to your blog and what you want to achieve with it, so feel free to search for plugins that work for you.

In general I will always install Google XML Sitemaps, All in One SEO Pack, myEASYbackup, WP-reCAPTCHA, and Akismet. These serve a specific purpose for all of my blogs that I hope to make highly relevant, easily searchable and search engine friendly, and I’ve had the best luck with this “basic” package.

I also don’t want to be left ‘high and dry’ if anything happens to my blog, so I run myEASYbackup to have a backup of my WordPress install emailed to me with another copy automatically saved to my server. I also tend to keep the comments section of my blogs open because I’m always looking for feedback and opinions so I need a few plugins to help with comment spam.

Are they necessary?

The inevitable response is a resounding, “It’s your choice.” If you are content with the functionality of your blog’s searchability and endure an unobtrusive amount of comment spam, then there isn’t a reason for you to feel like you should be installing tons of plugins. For those of you who demand more functionality from a blog or for those of you who don’t know how to write, the plugins afforded to the WordPress village are a major energy saving substitute.