Practical WordPress essential plug-ins recommended, lightweight + powerful, foreign trade and e-commerce must build a website

WordPress is equivalent to a rough house, the plug-in is equivalent to the renovation team to the house decoration and add a variety of functions, very important. WordPress website building is actually a variety of plug-ins with the process, the quality of the plug-in directly determines the quality of the site.

WordPress is a free open source project, there are tens of thousands of free plug-ins by different authors volunteer production, free for everyone to download. Free is also destined to most plug-ins quality will not be too good, limited functionality, security is not high, it is difficult to maintain a long update. The use of these plug-ins will sooner or later bring problems to the site.

Practical WordPress essential plugins

Diamo based on years of experience in the use of plug-ins to select some practical WordPress essential plug-ins recommended to you, lightweight and fast, powerful, safe and stable and lasting updates.

Page builder

Only a very few experts can build pages by handwriting code, the vast majority of users still need to use page builders to build web pages that are more appropriate, efficient, beautiful and powerful.

Elementor Pro

Elementor Prois the most popular, powerful and promising page builder and is highly recommended for everyone. Diamo offers a freeElementor ProFor everyone to download, just follow the public number to send keywords to get the verification code to download for free. Safe and stable, long time update, andOnline access to the official template library!

Many experts say Elementor (Ele for short) front-end loading too much code, speed card is not recommended to use, we recommend hand-written code to create pages or use Gutenberg editor. Speed is important, ele is indeed not as fast as Gutenberg editor, but the speed can be optimized.

Below is a Google speed test result for one of our website builder clients (Banner is a slideshow), and it's very fast! And it can be further optimized, but we are too lazy to continue to get it. Whoever says Elementor is slow in the future, throw these 2 graphs in his face.

There are a hundred ways to optimize speed, check out ourThe Ultimate WordPress Speed Optimization TutorialArticle, to ensure that your Ele website to do a second open. And Ele itself is not slow, using Astra theme import Ele whole site template using Google speed, page load time of about 1 second, more than 90 points. It is that people will not use, the page is bloated and large volume is slow.

Ele is not very fast except for all the advantages.

1. Powerful, with the sum of ele functions topping those of a dozen plug-ins.
2. Easy to operate, visual editing, white people can also easily get started with it well. Good use is the key.
3. Efficient and easy to build quality pages quickly. Time is money and efficiency generates profits.
4. Extensibility, super extension plug-ins to achieve various functions, import templates, etc..

Elemenotr these advantages is Gutenberg and other page builders can not be replaced, for 90% users Ele is the most suitable choice. People speed optimization bloggers can hand-write code and such to build pages, research the ultimate speed to write articles and such can get profits, their words may be right may not necessarily be good for you.

Gutenberg Editor

It is very fast, recommended by many speed bloggers, and WordPress official has been pushing it for years. But it has no advantages except speed, and friends feel it is not good after using it, and the functions are not powerful enough. If it is to build a simple page, the pursuit of the ultimate speed with it is very good.

Gutenberg is actually a very awkward existence, the only advantage is the speed. It has few features, poor ease of use so the amount of code is fast. This leads to a difficult situation, if you want to enhance the ease of use and functionality will inevitably make the plug-in card. If only focus on speed is not enough selling point and can not impress.

After the epidemic, everyone's life became more stressful, coupled with the Internet and technological development and progress, everyone's quality of life improved. Many people began to teach themselves skills, one is to increase income, the second is a hobby, more and more people began to teach themselves to build WordPress sites. Ease of use and powerful is what users need.

Template Plugin

Many customers ask whether there is a suitable template recommendation, indeed, through the template to build a website fast and good, no one does not love. Among the many template plug-ins we recommendPremium Starter TemplatesTemplate plugin with more than 200 sets of fashionable whole site templates, one click import and fast and good.

Premium Starter Templates also comes with hundreds of section/page templates that can be imported and used in Elementor, Gutenberg Editor, and imported very fast!

Note: Premium Starter Templates template plugin can only be used with Astra theme (both free and paid).

Elementor Extension Plugin

We generally only use Elementor to build websites, which is fast and does not recommend installing extension plugins to reduce the speed of the website. However, there are some special features and designs that Elementor cannot achieve, so it is not practical to write the code by yourself, or you need to use some third-party plug-ins to achieve.

Among the many Elementor extension plugins, we recommendUltimate Addons for Elementor and Essential Addons Pro. These 2 plug-ins are the fastest, have better features and design, are easy to use, and you can buy the key activated version for as little as $29.

Preferred useUltimate Addons for Elementor If its features don't meet your needs, take another lookEssential Addons Pro.

Content Editor Feature Enhancement Plugin 1

By default, after installing WordPress, the editor used to edit articles and pages is Gutenberg editor, which is very bad and less functional, it is very necessary to install freeAdvanced Editor Tools (old name: previously TinyMCE Advanced) plugin that adds the features shown below to the editor.

One of the awesome things about this plugin is the ability to insert tables ↓ and the high degree of customization. Adding a little CSS can turn the table into responsive, and the table can slide left and right to view the content.

Tables can control alignment, add/delete rows/columns, manually drag to adjust the width and height, etc.

It can switch the article editor to the classic editor and add tables, insert video and other features ↓, a must for building a website.

Although this plugin has not been updated for more than 2 years, but can be used normally, the plugin author replied in the support forum that he had something at home so delayed the update will be updated as soon as possible. 2022.December Update: The author has released aTest versionThe latest version will be released soon after the testing is done properly. Update 2023.03.30: New version 5.9.0 has been updated.

Click ↓ to enter the plug-in settings interface

Drag the function icon to the top to show on the toolbar, and drag it to the bottom to hide.

Check this ↓ Replace with Classic Editor.

Content Editor Feature Enhancement Plugin 2

mentioned aboveAdvanced Editor ToolsThe plugin must be installed, its functionality already meets most people's needs for editing content. Some people are more demanding and want to insert image slideshows, left and right 2 column layout, or image widgets into the product/article detail pages.

In general, you need to write the code by hand to achieve the above layout, the threshold is high and not suitable for whites. You can also use elementor and so on to build the corresponding section and then inserted into the content through the short code, but this is very tedious content is too much and not easy to maintain and take care of.

In fact, there is a class of shortcode plug-in comes with dozens of widgets, a key inserted into the product details, as long as the appropriate changes to the text content and images can be. Very simple and practical!

Free plug-ins are recommendedShortcodes UltimateThis is an old plugin, very powerful and useful, we recommend to install and use it together with Advanced Editor Tools plugin. Pro version can also add custom short code is very good.

SMTP Mailing Plugin

If the website has form and purchase function, you need to configure the email sending function, the website can send email to notify you when there is a new form or order. By default WordPress does not have the send mail function, you need to configure it to work.

Generally there are 2 ways to realize sending, one is to use PHP function to send emails, this method sends emails with low arrival rate (the sender URL is not a regular mailbox), also will cause burden to the web server, not recommended.

Basically, you use the second method, link your mailbox through SMTP plugin and use the outgoing mail function of your mailbox to send website emails. The sender shows your email address, which has high arrival rate, beautiful and does not affect the web server.

The best free SMTP plugins available areWP Mail SMTPWith more than 3 million installations, it is easy to set up, stable and reliable.

Cache Plugin

If it is a LiteSpeed server, we recommend using the free LiteSpeed Cache plugin. Other servers are recommended to useWp RocketCache plugin, which is currently the best comprehensive cache plugin.

Caching is the most important and complex feature of a website. The vast majority of website problems are caused by improper cache configuration. Wp Rocket is the best caching plugin for acceleration + ease of use + stability + cost effectiveness, bar none. It can optimize both mobile and computer scores of GoogleSpeed to over 95 points.

The most important thing is that it has a very detailed and comprehensive documentation tutorial that can help you solve the problems of 95% and use it proficiently. This is Perfmatters, Flying Press and other plug-ins are out of reach.

Wp Rocket will cache PHP results and it is basically impossible to bypass the cache, resulting in some dynamic content that may not be displayed, functions that fail, etc. If the site has some dynamic content that is cached and not displayed, it is recommended to switch toW3 Total Cache Pro caching pluginThis can be used to bypass dynamic caching. Works better with Perfmatters than Wp Rocket.

SEO Plugin

SEO plug-in recommended Rank Math, the fastest, most powerful, the effect is in the first echelon. With redirects, 404 monitoring, Schema structure, keyword ranking tracking, installation of Google Analytics code and other features, there is no need to install the same function of the plug-in.

SEO Plugin Recommendations Rank Math ProThe installation package is less than half the size of Yoast, with less front-end loading code, light weight and full functionality at the same time and bull.

Asset Cleanup Optimization Plugin

WordPress is such a product, with many features and code that we don't need, wasting server performance and slowing down page loading.

Fortunately there are plugins that disable unwanted code and features to speed up your website. If you just use them to disable/optimize CSS, JS and disable useless WordPress features, we recommend usingAsset CleanUp ProThe new version is more powerful and can even disable hard-coded code.

Recommended if you need to disable CSS, JS and production critical CSS, delay loading JS, delay loading images, clean database, disable useless WordPress featuresPerfmattersIt is a comprehensive and the best plug-in in the same function.

Recommended if you need to disable WordPress useless features, Woocommerce useless features, automatic update features, etc.Disable BloatIt can't disable CSS, JS. It can't disable CSS and JS, but it can disable more WordPress and Woocommerce features than Asset CleanUp Pro and Perfmatters.

WooCommerce Product Gallery product thumbnail plugin

Woocommerce comes with a product detail page image display function that is not beautiful and responsive, and cannot insert videos, etc. Mainstream websites basically add the WooCommerce Product Gallery thumbnail plugin to beautify and enhance the image display functionality.

We have installed and compared more than 10 Product Gallery plugins, including YITH WooCommerce Product Gallery & Image Zoom, which are either not beautiful enough or not functional enough.WooThumbsIt is the most capable plugin to meet our requirements, beautiful, easy to set up, powerful and responsive.

You can easily customize the display direction (horizontal and vertical) of the thumbnails on the product detail page, support the image zoom function, responsive design, and also insert videos and 360° panoramic images in the thumbnails. jQuery-free, fast loading speed.

Search Plugin

The native/topic search function is too little and the search results are not accurate, many flaws. For example page content should not appear in the search results, it should normally search only articles or products. No change to search pages and media.

Article content should not be involved in the keyword search, otherwise the accuracy rate will be much lower, it is recommended to search only the title and summary. Just put the keywords you want to associate with the abstract, we do this on this site, so the search results are more accurate.

Products may need to add SKUs, custom fields, etc. to the search to make it easier for customers to quickly search for products. Highlighting search results ↓ is also necessary to increase customer experience and make it easy for customers to find the content they want.

Recommended UseSearchWPSearch plugin, SearchWP Benefits.

1. The possibility to set the search scope (pages, articles, products, media, etc.) and content (title, URL, summary, content).
2. setting synonym A = B, a search for term A will also bring up search results for term B.
3. Partial matching (fuzzy search), which finds partial matches when the search term has no results.
4. Search corrections, using the closest match and outputting notifications for searches with no results.
5. Highlighting search terms in search results to make it easier for customers to find content.
6. Dozens of functional extensions to enhance various functions.
7. Import and export settings.

Multilingual Translation Plugin

Recommended translation plug-insTranslatePressautomatic translation plug-ins that are lightweight, have less front-end loading code speed than other translation plug-ins, are powerful, and can be used domestically;

TOC Article Directory Plugin

Article Directory Plugin RecommendationsFixed TOC, lightweight, responsive design, mobile navigation directory floating shrinkage of the best customer experience;

Forms plugin

Form Plugin RecommendationsFluent Forms ProThe fastest form plugin, powerful and easy to use;

Firewall security antivirus plug-in

Firewall RecommendationsWordfenceThis is the most affordable + effective + fastest security plug-in for civilians, the best choice;

Online relocation site, automatic regular backup plug-in

Recommended plugins for automatic backup/relocation sitesUpdraftPlusEasy to use, powerful and fast; one-click online relocation/copy/restore website, very practical. Support backup to Microsoft Onedrive, the mainland can also be used.

Cookie Privacy Collection Alert Plugin

Cookies alert bar plugin recommended for freeCookie Bar, the lightweight front end loads less than 5kb of code and is very fast. A lot of people will use the CookieYes plugin, it's really nice, good looking and fully compliant with EU DMA requirements. The downside is that it loads a lot of third-party code, which affects speed.

Social Sharing Plugin

Share the page to your friends via Facebook, Collage, Twitter, WhatsAPP, Line, etc. and send it to your friends. Recommended social sharing pluginsNovashare, built for speed, does not affect page loading speed.

Another reason to choose it is the powerful feature that enables sharing count, floating sharing box, pop-up sharing and so on, which is a good user experience. It also supports inserting sharing boxes with short codes.

Search term tracking plugin

Knowing what keywords visitors are using to search on your website is essential to understand your customers' needs and then adjust your website's wording and content to increase conversions. Recommended aboveSearchWPThe search plugin comes with a search term tracking extension that can record which search terms visitors have used to search on the site.

If you have not installedSearchWPSearch plugin, recommended to install freeSearch MeterThe plugin records keywords used for searches, and after installation a statistics table will appear in the dashboard where the search terms used by visitors will be displayed.

I chose this plugin because it is simple, practical, similar plug-ins I think is not simple enough. Although this plugin has not been updated for 2 years, but still available, the author has 7 months ago in the support forum to answer questions.

Note: If you use PHP8.0, modifying this plugin setting will prompt the site to encounter a fatal error. Please do not modify the settings or switch to PHP7.4 after modifying the settings and then switch back to PHP8.0. I left a message to the author at the end of December suggesting him to update the plugin to support the latest PHP version, and the author replied that it would be solved within a week.

Update: 2023.01.04 The plugin author replied that the latest version (2.13.5) is already compatible with PHP8.0, and after testing it does modify the settings normally.

Modify website background login interface plug-in

The default backend login screen is not nice and slightly cumbersome with many functions. If you are a perfectionist and OCD person like me, we suggest you to install the freeCustom Login Page CustomizerPlugin to beautify the login page. The following figure ↓ is the login screen after the use of the plugin to beautify the site.

Adjust the order of article/product display

Installation is freeIntuitive Custom Post OrderPlug-in, easy to use and simple to set up.

Go to the plugin settings↓.

Check the content that needs to be sorted manually ↓.

Enter the article, product list page left mouse button to strike the article, product do not put up and down dragging to change the order.

Image Watermark Plugin

If you want to add a watermark to an image, we recommend using the freeEasy WatermarkPlugin, powerful and easy to set up. You can add watermark to some photos alone, you can also manually cancel the watermark of some photos. This site uses this plugin to add watermarks. But this plugin is not compatible with PHP8.0 and PHP8.1.

Recommended if using PHP 8.0 or aboveUltimate WatermarkThe plug-in, though not much installed, is as good as Easy Watermark.

If the volume of the image increases a lot after adding the watermark, try to modify the quality of the watermark inside the settings, or use the image compression plug-in to compress the volume. There are also many excellent watermark plug-ins, there is no best only the most appropriate, their own search comparison.

Database Cleanup Plugin

New websites and small websites have simple databases, so there is no need to clean up the database. Large and old websites will inevitably have junk in their databases, so cleaning them up can improve the speed of the website and reduce the size of the database. Recommended to use freeWP-OptimizePlugin that works well, is stable and reliable, and has more than 1 million installations. It's best to backup your data before cleaning up.

Failed link check, repair plug-in

It is inevitable that a website will have some invalid links that will have a very bad impact on SEO and visitor experience. It is very necessary to clean up/revise the invalid links. Install freeBroken Link CheckerThe plugin can scan the website periodically to find out the invalid links and then clean or modify them. It is recommended to set up regular detection every 1-2 weeks to reduce the burden on the server.

Article comment reply notification plugin

WordPress article comments will ask to fill in the email address, it is recommended to install freeComment Reply EmailPlugin. It sends an email notification to the commenter when his or her message is replied to by someone else, thus directing the commenter to revisit the site and reply to the message, which helps improve SEO results.

This plugin was created by a speed bully and has a minimal impact on loading speed. Full functionality allows message senders to choose whether or not to receive email notifications, as well as custom notification templates.

Write post paste image/file upload plugin

By default when writing articles or uploading products, if you want to insert photos you can only upload them to the media library first and then insert them into the details, which is a bit tedious. Installation is freeThe PasteThe plugin can directly paste copied images or files directly into the details via Ctrl+V, which will be automatically uploaded to the media library, which is very convenient!

How to use: Copy the image from other places by Ctrl+C, press Ctrl+V and paste it in the article/product detail writing interface. You can also take a screenshot through the screenshot tool, copy the photo and press Ctrl+V to paste it. We often use the image paste function to write articles, this plug-in greatly improve the efficiency of writing.

After installing the plugin, an upload button ↓ will appear on the top toolbar, which is active by default, indicating that the paste image function is enabled and click to disable this function.

Note: This plug-in compatibility is not very good, more Bug, support forum basically no reply. The market did not find a better plugin of the same type, no choice but to use it. There is a person to fix the bugs of this plugin, and uploaded to GitHub, but also enhanced the function.

ClickDownload the bug-fixed versionClick the Download ZIP in the picture below.Note: This plugin is a little different from the original The Paste plugin, it may cause the background of the text box of the article/product to become gray, you can add your own CSS to modify the color.

Modify the plugin settings there in your personal user profile ↓.

Media Library Management Plugin

InstallationFileBird ProThe plug-in can create folders in the media library, and it is much more convenient to store the images/files in the corresponding folders.

Add code plugin

Modifying custom WordPress inevitably requires adding some code to the backend or frontend, the usual way is to add code to the themefunctions.phpfile. There is actually a better way to add code, and that is to use the freeCode SnippetsPlug-in.

Code Snippets it can precisely control where the code takes effect, and change the theme without worrying about losing the code. If the free version doesn't meet your needs, you can useCode Snippets Pro.

Database content search and replace plugin

When you want to replace the old URLs in the database after relocating your website, or when you want to change the content of your website in bulk, you need to use the database content search and replacement plugin. Recommended to use freeBetter Search ReplacePlug-in, very powerful and easy to use, one click to easily replace the database content, good results.

If the free version does not meet your needs, we recommend installingBetter Search Replace Pro, with database backup/restore function, etc., more powerful.

Slider plugin

We atHow to improve website conversion rate and reduce bounce rate?As mentioned in this article, only (or even no) one image at the top of the home page has better results and conversion rates than multiple image rotations.

However, many customers insist on doing multi-picture rotation, and some websites really need to use multi-picture rotation. So we compare and filter the best slideshow plug-ins on the market, and finally chooseSmart Slider 3 pro.

Smart Slider 3 proVery powerful, high degree of customization can make a variety of slideshows. The most important thing is that it is very fast and comes with features such as image to Webp, preload/delayed load, cache and so on. We do foreign trade websites also use it.

Elementor's slideshow widget cannot add text and other content on top of each image, nor does it have rich entrance animations and dynamic effects, etc., which is very limited.

The following plug-ins are mainly used for 2 e-commerce sites.

Woocommerce Product Filter Plugin

Product filter plug-in recommendationPofily, fast, powerful and compatible with the CURCY currency switch plugin.

Woocommerce e-commerce multi-currency plugin (switch other currencies to display prices)

Currency Switching Plugin RecommendationsCURCY, fast, powerful, easy to use and Pofily compatible.

Woocommerce Wishlist Wishlist Plugin

Wishlist plugin recommendationTI WooCommerce Wishlist, powerful, easy to set up and beautiful.