This is a great article by Cathy Perkins, The WordPress Wizard on her 5 top WordPress plugins. Enjoy

WordPress Essentials – Plugins the WordPress Wizard Must Have
By Cathy Perkins

This is not an exhaustive list but I MUST have these plugins:

Vipers Video QuickTags

Tired of copying and pasting the embed HTML from sites like YouTube? Then this plugin is for you.

Just click one of the buttons that this plugin adds to the WordPress editor and then paste the URL wherethe video is located at into the prompt box — easy as that. You can configure how the videos are displayed (width, height, colors, alignment on the page) and much more. Your site will remain (X)HTML valid unlike with the code provided by most video sites.

Share This

The ShareThis WordPress plugin provides a quick, simple to use, and unobtrusive way for users to add your post to many social bookmarking sites, or to send your post link via email, AIM, Facebook, MySpace and more.

Dean’s FCKEditor For WordPress

This plugin Replaces the default WordPress editor.

FCKeditor is an open source WYSIWYG text editor ,brings to the web much of the power of desktop editors like MS Word.it’s lightweight and is compatible with most internet browsers which include: IE 5.5+ (Windows), Firefox 1.0+, Mozilla 1.3+ and Netscape 7+.

Features:

• media buttons
• Build-in File manager and upload manager.
• Build-in WordPress “read more” Button
• Integrated with WordPress media buttons
• Manage and insert smileys into your post
• And MUCH more

WP-DB-Backup

You must be responsible for your data. This plugin backs up your database. Set it to a schedule of your choice and select from several locations to store the backup.

HeadSpace

HeadSpace2 is an all-in-one meta-data manager that allows you to fine-tune the SEO potential of your site.

Here is what the plugin author has to say about HeadSpace2:

“You can configure meta-data for:

• Posts
• Pages
• Categories
• Home page
• Author pages
• Search pages
• 404 page

You can define:

• Tags/keywords, with suggested keywords
• Descriptions
• Page titles
• Custom ‘more text’
• Site name and site description
• Custom themes – change your theme on each page!
• Custom plugins – load a plugin only on specific pages
• Additional CSS and JavaScript files
• Noindex and nofollow

It also allows you to add:

• Google Analytics
• Google Webmaster
• Google section targeting
• Mint statistic
• 103bees
• Statcounter
• CrazyEgg heat map
• Feedburner Stats Pro
• Apture
• Yahoo! Site Explorer
• Microsoft Live Verification
• HitTail
• Piwik tracking
• AWStats tracking”

It sure does this and is convenient and easy to use.

TwitterTools

For everyone on Twitter, and if you aren’t, why aren’t you, this plugin is so versatile. It allows you to create tweets from your posts and create a sidebar widget containing your recent tweets.

Cathy Perkins, The WordPress Wizard

Bonus Tip – Use plugins to expand the capability of your WordPress blog. Get the plugins you need to do what you want to do.

And you can also claim your FREE Instant Access to ‘3 Minute Blog Tips’ when you visit http://TheWordPressWizard.com/blog-tip

From Cathy Perkins, The WordPressWizard.

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