WordPress Plugin Refresh

One of my favourite plugins is the Related Posts plugin. However, then version I’ve been using hasn’t been updated for over a year so I decided to check the WordPress plugin site to see if some clever teenager somewhere has come up with an improved version.

Visiting the WordPress plugin site has made me realise it’s been a very long time since I installed a new WordPress plugin. I spent a few minutes on the site and here are the new plugins I’ve added/replaced:

Replaced My Old Related Posts Plugin with Yet Another Related Posts Plugin

I opted for this Related Posts plugin as I like that it bases the related posts on the actual post content, not the tags that have been chosen. A threshold can also be set for relevancy, so you get more related posts if there are more related posts and less if there are less. Brilliant.

The relevancy also seems to be improved. For instance with my old plugin these posts were returned:

And with the new plugin, the following posts:

The numbers in brackets are the relevancy of each post (only admins can see this - very useful). I think this list is much more useful as it contains posts talking about several plugins, like this post.

Removed Optimal Title plugin and replaced it with All in One SEO Plugin

All in One SEO Plugin does everything the Optimal Title plugin does and more, including better control of meta tags.

Replaced Spam Karma 2 With Akismet

I was stunned by how much Akismet has improved over the last 12 months. It’s sad that the author of SK2 is no longer developing it, but I can see his point, given that Akismet is distributed directly by WordPress.

Ajax Edit WordPress Comments Plugin

I spotted this plugin on Martin’s site and I will be adding it once my theme is finished (yes, I know it’s taking forever)

I’m sure there are other great WordPress plugins out there. Have you got any suggestions?

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About the Author

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Everton is based in London and has worked in the internet and mobile space for over ten years now, and before that worked in corporate strategy and consulting. He has a degree in Economics from Cambridge University, and currently runs the Portal and online operations for one of the largest ISPs in the UK.

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There Are 13 Responses So Far. »

  1. 1

    Couldn’t be a more timely feature, Everton. I’ve had some issues on a number of blogs with several different ‘related’ plug-ins and I really want to resolve the problem network-wide this month. I’m giving this one a shot, thanks for the tip.

  2. 2

    Good treasure trove of advice.

    Just some weeks ago, I found the solution to my hanging board problem after migrating to WP 2.3. Turns out the Simple Tagging plugin caused ugly conflicts with the 2.3 code. One of your posts nicely jotted down the solution for me.

  3. 3

    Hello Everton
    Its nice to be back to your site with a good post like this.I was thinking of something like these plug in comparisons.I think you should get the plugins post again where you can tell the plugins to be used
    Cheers
    Abhishek

  4. 4

    @E - I always appreciate this type of article. It is good to see what a high volume high revenue site is using to add value to its readers…
    Although, I still can’t figure out why you moved your theme away from TypoXP Reloaded (too many people using it?)

  5. 5

    Thanks for the links. It would be great if you could help me out with a plugin by which I can place ads on my blog. I have tried a couple of plugins but have failed. Your help would be highly appreciated.

  6. 6

    @abishek

    Which plugin post? You mean list all the ones I use? If so, will do later in the week

    @Mark

    to be honest, boredom. I wanted something new to play with, as well as something to try a new few ideas

    @Eva

    I find it a lot easier to add code directly. An even better way to manage multiple ads is openads, which is great - you’ve just given me an idea for a post. thanks!

  7. 7

    @ Eva,

    Sounds like Everton is going to answer at length with apost, but to solve your problem right away?

    a. use a theme … like Everton’s TypoXP reloaded or DodhDosh’s ProSense with the AdSense built in … copy your ad code from adsense.google.com in place of the default adSense block sin the theme.

    b. use any theme with widgets, place a Text widget where you want your ad, copy your code for an AdSense block into into the widget, clcik save, done.

  8. 8

    Nice, I was hoping I’m gonna stumble on something like that. I removed the last one because post titles were not related the way I wanted them. These changes that, big time.

    Now I only need couple of hours to put the plugin on my blogs :)

  9. 9

    @everton
    “Which plugin post? You mean list all the ones I use? If so, will do later in the week”

    Yes, please post that.. you have some interesting ones around, and I am curious as to what you are using.

  10. 10

    I am writing a login plug-in in order to better login solition. I will publish in 2-3 weeks after good testing process. It will announce and publish via codex.wordpress

  11. 11

    @Kline

    Just published the post - http://www.connectedinternet.co.uk/2008/01/27/list-of-wordpress-plugins-used-on-this-site/

  12. 12

    Hey Everton,

    Oh the shiny new related posts plugin - the “more intelligent” one - now that you’ve been running with it a while, what’s the verdict?

    Is it really noticeably better?

    Would you still install it if you knew then what you know now?

    Thanks!!!
    Dan & Jennifer

  13. 13

    @Dan and Jen

    Definitely - the matching is much better

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