There are benefits to checking out as much of the competition as possible (where/when affordable) for a legitimate period of time. Cart66 was that for me as I began eCommerce. WooCommerce is that for me now.
I like what I am experiencing. Read more
All-in-One Event Calendar by Time.ly
It’s easy to see these guys have been hard at work.
The All-in-One Event Calendar is a
…user-friendly, flexible, and feature-rich plugin for publishing and promoting events on your WordPress website.
Learn how they sync Facebook Events, theme the calendar, import .ics feeds, and display the Posterboard format. We’ve been enjoying it.
UberMenu – WordPress Mega Menu Plugin
Uber.
denoting an outstanding or supreme example of a particular kind of person or thing
UberMenu (for WordPress)?
I fully agree. Read more
AddThis | Social Sharing Plugin Platform
You’ve probably seen the little orange icon. Over 14 million domains trust AddThis.
There’s a few things I like about them and some reasons why I think you could too, as you also consider other services like DiggDigg or Shareaholic: Read more
SoundCloud | Audio Plugin Platform
So…if musicians, publishers, and businesses alike incorporate audio into WordPress sites, why is there no one plugin that is the clear winner to satisfy a world of listening?
The answer? Because there are now platforms, not plugins, that are delivering audio content around the web.
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CodeCanyon
CodeCanyon, like ThemeForest and other Envato Marketplaces, has made available some complex and time-saving code at a competitive price. In their words, you can search for:
PHP, Javascript, ASP.NET and Java starting at $3.
It’s a place, especially, for the WordPress user/designer to explore premium Plugins.
Who knows, maybe an item in their marketplace will be just what you need for your next (or current) project.
Gravity Forms
Web-based Forms can be semi-cumbersome, if not daunting and detailed to make, especially for a new designer.
The WordPress community, of which I am most familiar with – as opposed to Drupal or Joomla – is active with making things like building forms easier.
Contact Form 7 was the first contact form plugin/builder I was introduced to for WordPress. It had a great following and wide use. Previously I had used (and loved) JotForm, the “first web based WYSIWYG form builder” which, like WuFoo, lets developers visually build forms while storing the collected information in the user’s account (don’t forget Google Forms). This “offsite” setup and collection was (and for many still is) great. It was easy to build and embed, but I wanted to store collected responses in our own site’s database visible in the WordPress backend.
Well, as is often the case with me, options sparked my exploration. I eventually settled on/with Gravity Forms and have been happy ever since.
ManageWP.com
For those working with and/or supporting multiple WordPress sites, I have found ManageWP to be a helpful service.
From their site:
All your sites under one dashboard! ManageWP helps you manage all your WordPress sites from one dashboard, keeping them updated and secure.
I don’t get anything for telling you about them, I just like them and appreciate what they’ve permitted me to do and accomplish a little more easily as I support and manage multiple WordPress websites.
DISQUS Comment System
It’s not that the WordPress comment system has anything entirely lacking for a basic site, but that the DISQUS comment system adds much more.
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