1. Akismet – SPAM control, this plugin is the ultimate in controlling unwanted spam in your posts and pages.
   

   Akismet checks your comments against the Akismet web service to see if they look like spam or not. You need a WordPress.com API key to use it. You can review the spam it catches under “Comments.” To show off your Akismet stats just put in your template.

   • By Matt Mullenweg | Visit plugin site
2. All in One SEO Pack – Provides full SEO customization for your posts and pages, including title tags, descriptions, meta tags, etc.
   

   Out-of-the-box SEO for your WordPress blog.

   • By Michael Torbert | Visit plugin site
3. Contact Form 7 – The author reports that this is just another contact form plugin, understatement if ever there was one. This provides the easiest form creation and management we’ve ever used on any platform.
   

   Just another contact form plugin. Simple but flexible.

   • By Takayuki Miyoshi | Visit plugin site
4. Custom Field Template – This extends the functionality of the already easy to use WordPress Custom Fields for pages and posts.
   

   This plugin adds the default custom fields on the Write Post/Page.

   • By Hiroaki Miyashita | Visit plugin site
5. Google Analyticator – Allows for easy installation of Google’s Analytics code into your blog, including smart control so you don’t track admin activity etc.
   

   Adds the necessary JavaScript code to enable Google’s Analytics. After enabling this plugin visit the settings page and enter your Google Analytics’ UID and enable logging.

   • By Ronald Heft | Visit plugin site
6. Google XML Sitemaps – Provides easy to maintain and control XML sitemaps for your blog / website, a must have for SEO and search engine ranking.
   

   This plugin will generate a special XML sitemap which will help search engines like Google, Yahoo, Bing and Ask.com to better index your blog.

   • By Arne Brachhold | Visit plugin site
7. Most Popular Posts – This is great for boosting interest in your content, especially what’s popular.
   

   Display a link to the most popular posts on your blog according to the number of comments.

   • By Wes Goodhoofd | Visit plugin site
8. Search Everything – Adds extended search capability and functionality to WordPress’ already great search abilities.
   

   Adds search functionality without modifying any template pages: Activate, Configure and Search. Options Include: search highlight, search pages, excerpts, attachments, drafts, comments, tags and custom fields (metadata). Also offers the ability to exclude specific pages and posts. Does not search password-protected content.

   • By Dan Cameron of Sprout Venture | Visit plugin site
9. Similar Posts – Provides a configurable list of smartly chosen posts and/or pages to the bottom of your post to generate more interest in your content.
   

   Displays a highly configurable list of related posts. Similarity can be based on any combination of word usage in the content, title, or tags. Don’t be disturbed if it takes a few moments to complete the installation — the plugin is indexing your posts. Instructions and help online. Requires the latest version of the Post-Plugin Library to be installed.

   • By Rob Marsh, SJ | Visit plugin site
10. WordPress Database Backup – Creates backups of your WordPress blog or website, what would you do if your server crashed!?
    

    On-demand backup of your WordPress database.

    • By Austin Matzko | Visit plugin site

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