Recently I’ve been a huge proponent of WordPress. It’s versatile, easy to use, and extremely powerful. But without the right plugins, your WordPress site might not be operating at its full potential. Here is my list of essential and non-essential plugins for WordPress. Expect updates as I find more.
Essentials
Akismet – Awesome spam blocker.
Google XML Sitemaps – For search engine optimization.
Greg’s High Performance SEO – For search engine optimization.
WP Super Cache - Make pages load faster.
WPtouch – Make your site mobile.
XML Sitemap Feed – For search engine optimization.
Fast Secure Contact Form – Add a contact form to your website.
Jetpack by WordPress.com - A bunch of social features and add-ons.
Good but not necessary
Mingle Forum – Create a full featured forum.
GD Star Rating - Enable star ratings on posts.
Q and A - Create an FAQ
I’m starting to get into the whole ‘free app of the day’ thing on Amazon’s Android App Store. Last week Amazon offered ‘Executive Assistant’ as their free app of the day. This app normally retails for $3.49 in the Amazon App Store, and is loaded with features.
The basic idea of the app is that, when you receive a text message, email, or phone call, you don’t always want to have to dive all the way into the apps on your phone to get a quick idea of the nature of the communication. Executive Assistant solves the problem by allowing you to create a ‘dashboard’ on your ‘lock screen’ customized with social streams, tasks, appointments, alarms, weather, text messages, and many other items.
You can also opt to display the ‘dashboard’ after you unlock your phone as a ‘splash screen’, or just display the titles of messages. Limiting the display of information helps to hide personal information if you happen to lose your phone.
The app works great, but set aside 20-30 minutes to get it set up. There are many settings, and not all of the settings are super easy to understand. You’ll also need to have all of your account credentials for Twitter, Facebook, Google, and any other email services handy.
Overall though, I’d say download the app if you are continuously unlocking your phone just to look at simple information like missed call logs and text messages.
I’m sure this has been written about a million times, but I was struck by the irony of this photo as I was tidying up my phone pictures.
Its funny how in such a short time things can change so much. I remember my first camera was a point and shoot that had disposable flashes. The flashes were good for about eight shots and then had to be replaced.
The camera with flash built-in came next, the disposable camera, the point and shoot with remote control, the underwater camera, and finally the digital camera. In addition (although I didn’t own one) there was also the Polaroid instant camera.
How far we’ve come!
In 10 to 15 years, these cameras have almost been entirely replaced by the likes of fxCamera, instagram, and a plethora of other apps for mobile phones with image quality approaching digital cameras. I wouldn’t have ever tried to lug an old Polariod into the car, and take this particular picture, nor would I have been able to upload it directly to this blog (and make it look LIKE a Polaroid).
It’s amazing… I can’t wait to see what innovations and conveniences new technologies bring in the next 10-15 years.
P.S. If this doesn’t contradict this post, I don’t know what does… but if you know where to get Polariod film, leave info in the comments below. I purchased an old Polaroid at an estate sale…
