Brian's Web Developer Tips and Tricks

Keeping backups of any website you maintain is absolutely essential. I make sure backups are done both at the server level and at the WordPress plugin level. My Two “Go To” WordPress Backup Plugins All-In-One WP Migration ★ This is now the backup plugin that I use the most. Very easy to use and reliable … Read more

Database Search and Replace Better Search Replace This is an easy-to-use database search-and-replace tool. I’ve used it to swap out shortcodes in the content, as well as to update URLs in the database before launching sites. There is a pro version that will show you a preview of the changes before executing, however, it doesn’t … Read more

These are some invaluable plugins for debugging, developing, and monitoring WordPress sites. Debugging Database Queries Debug This See exactly what query WordPress is running. Great for debugging WordPress query problems in your code. Query Monitor Similar to Debug This, but this has more emphasis on the WP queries on your site. Very useful. WP phpMyAdmin A lifesaver … Read more

Check out these Gutenberg Block plugins that add new block functionality to WordPress. Accordion Blocks Adds the much-needed accordion block to Gutenberg. You need to style it yourself using your own style sheet, but it’s lightweight and just works. Block Visibility Schedule when any Gutenberg block is displayed and to whom, or hide it altogether. … Read more

These plugins will help you tame the size of your images and help your pages load faster. Imsanity Imsanity is a lightweight plugin that reduces the size of jpeg images as they are uploaded. It also can re-size existing images in your media library. If I don’t put this on my client’s sites, they will … Read more

Displaying a map with clickable pins or regions is a common requirement on websites. These are some of my favorite plugins for doing that! Clean Outline Maps (No Roads Shown) These plugins are great for showing clean maps showing outlines of regions. They don’t show details like roads. Interactive Geo Maps ★ (free and paid … Read more

These plugins help you manage your WordPress Media Library Happy Files This is the de-facto standard WordPress Media Library management plugin that lets you assign your media to category folders. No actual folders are created on your server; it’s just metadata. As a bonus, it includes a gallery shortcode and Gutenberg block to display images … Read more

The Best Classified Plugin Another WordPress Classifieds Plugin Great solution if you want to set up a classified ad section on your site. No login by users is required. There are paid add-on modules, but the free version is totally usable. I purchased the add-on module that lets you use custom fields. See an example in action … Read more

These two WordPress menu plugins have been really useful to me! Max Mega Menu Look no further than this plugin if you need a menu on your site, whether it is a mega menu or a normal menu! It provides a menu with accessibility support (unlike the native Oxygen Builder menus, for example). Easy to … Read more

I don’t recommend WordPress Multisite except for some very specific use cases. Read why here. If you must use Multisite, here are some plugins that can help. Multisite Migration Plugins Many of the most popular WordPress migration plugins don’t work on Multisite (at least most free versions don’t). Here are some plugins, paid and free, … Read more

While HTML is usually the best way to display information on a website, there may be cases where you need to display a PDF. To do that, you could simply link to the PDF, but then when someone clicks on the link, they go off of your site. These are some ways to embed a … Read more

A poll is a great way to increase user engagement on your site. You might even see increased sharing on social as people encourage others to vote. These are some plugins that allow you to add a poll or questionnaire to your website: WP-Polls WP-Polls is a good free plugin for generating a single poll … Read more

Clients seem to love popups despite their pitfalls (SEO, accessibility, etc.). If you need to indulge them, here are a few good options. Popup Maker Whether you need a popup that happens automatically after page load or on button press, this is the best modal popup plugin that I’ve found and it’s probably the “industry … Read more

Check out these plugins to manage and improve your WordPress posts. Post Appearance Add Widget After Content Does just what it says. Great for adding email subscription forms right after your article content. Advanced Excerpt Use if you want more control over your post excerpts, like adding HTML. Secondary Title It’s good practice to have … Read more

Compliance with privacy laws is an important consideration for almost any website these days. Here are some plugins that can help you comply. Best Paid Solution Termageddon This is probably the closest thing to the “industry standard”. If you polled web developers for their preferred privacy solution, you’d probably get Termageddon as the winner. Cost … Read more

The most performant way of doing URL redirections is at the server level. But, sometimes, the convenience of using a plugin is more important than speed. These are some WordPress redirection plugins that I recommend. Redirection The Redirection plugin is a quick and easy way to redirect URLs in WordPress. For complex redirections, you can … Read more

Some say RSS is dead, but it still can be useful to display posts from other sites on your site. These plugins help you do that. Featured Image in RSS Feed Adds the featured image to your RSS feed. Or, if you’re comfortable adding a bit of code to your theme, use this solution. FEEDZY … Read more

Any serious strategy for WordPress security should involve solutions at the server level. Still, these plugins can provide additional security benefits. Security and Scanning Plugins WordFence WordFence is the industry standard in security plugins. Does regular scans for malware and blocks known evil IP addresses. Not perfect, but the scanning can be very useful when … Read more

I install an SEO plugin on every WordPress site that is meant for public consumption. These are three solutions varying from lightweight to full-featured. Yoast SEO ★ – The Industry Standard This is still probably the industry standard SEO plugin (perhaps along with Rank Math). I use it on most of my sites. It has a … Read more

These are the best WordPress plugins for displaying social sharing buttons and social feeds that I’ve found. Monarch (Paid Plugin) This is one of my “go-to” social media plugins which comes with a Divi subscription. Displays click counts. You can place the sharing buttons on a variety of locations, including floating on the sides. You … Read more

These are some great shortcode-based table and tab plugins for WordPress TablePress – Simple and Lightweight This is my “go-to” plugin when I need a simple shortcode-based table on a site. These tables are not mobile responsive, but you could just set a minimum width on the container using CSS and have the user scroll … Read more

These plugins help deal with WordPress Taxonomies. Bulk Move Moves posts from one taxonomy to another. Radio Buttons for Taxonomies If you would like to limit Categories or custom taxonomies to one per post, this plugin does it by changing the checkboxes to radio buttons. Simple and just works! Taxonomy Switcher Kind of a narrow … Read more

Here are two ways to add a text reader to your WordPress site. Free TTS (monthly fee) TTS is not a WordPress plugin, so you can use this for any site. If you just need some text converted to speech in mp3 form, simply submit your text and get an mp3 back. You can then … Read more

These plugins help you manage WordPress user roles, so you can control what capabilities different users have. Managing User Capabilities Members Creates a new “Roles” admin menu item under “Users” that allows you to edit the capabilities of all WordPress roles, and to create new ones with custom capabilities. PublishPress Permissions Allows you to enable … Read more

These WordPress plugins help you import and export your WordPress users. WP All Import Folks who work with WooCommerce all of the time swear by WP All Import for migrating data. It’s also great for migrating non-WooCommerce data as well, whether between sites or from a CSV file. Export Users for WordPress Really solid plugin … Read more

In general, I don’t recommend messing with the default WordPress admin appearance too much. These plugins tidy up your admin area or add helpful notes. Admin Columns ★ I hate it when plugins add columns to the “All Pages” and “All Posts” feeds in the admin, cluttering them up with useless info (I’m looking at you, … Read more