Forgot to mention another very important plugin I use:

PC Hide Pages

If you need to keep a page(s) from being found by Google, such as a special page for subscribers eyes only, free giveaways that you don’t want found without you sharing the link offline, etc.

Regarding plugins, I have one to add and two cautions:

Quick Page/Post Redirect Plugin:
If you’ve been running a website for a while, you will at some point be tempted to move or delete certain content. If you do a site refresh it may be required to change things around. But, the links that Google displays don’t often catch up right away and can cause “404 page not found” when people click on a search result, and they’re unlikely to stay on your site long if that happens. So, a plugin I use to create redirects is “Quick Page/Post Redirect Plugin” which allows you to quickly create links that don’t actually exist on your site and point them to pages that do exist. It’s also great if you are converting a non-WordPress site to WordPress because you can take all those links and make sure they still work after WordPress goes live.

Caution 1. Do not add any plugin to your site without testing for conflicts first. Some plugins step on or break others, and playing with your live site is not the place to discover something got broken. Instead, and I always recommend this to any WordPress site owner, have a development site where you can test and play. It can be a real site that you or your webmaster sets up, or it can be something on your local computer (Server Press is what I use) where nobody but you can see it. I actually do both, but I’m a tech geek.

Caution 2. Too many security plugins is a bad thing. One “do it all” plugin can overwrite or negate functionality of another. I use a combo of Better WP Security and Antivirus.

Wow, I didn’t mean to write a blog post here! Hopefully it will help someone, though.

I was wondering if you had an opinion about how many plug-ins would be TOO many. I have been accused of being plug-in crazed. 🙂

Thanks,
Shelley

Me, too, Lisa. I’ll be reviewing a few of the plugins above, too, as time permits – and a few new ones that I’m playing with … if I like them. 🙂

I appreciate you!
N

Sweet! Thanks, Gregg. I’m glad it was helpful.

N

I think your list of plugins is just great and really useful. I have only one website and want to start another and a blog very shortly. One I would not do without is Akismet to protect blog from comment and trackback spam. Also WPTouch formats site for mobile theme. As for the rest, you more than cover them in your list. P.S. Isn’t Covert Messenger fun!! Thanks for your excellent post, Lise

I know, right?! I love finding a new plugin. It’s like Christmas for me.

Now back to work, girl!

Hugs,
N