I realized the last time I did a post on the different plugins I’m using was my first podcast episode, which was 48 episodes ago! What the what?
This is one of the questions I get most often, so I figured it only made sense to do an update post, with a few insights and side notes I’m sure. 
I’ll make sure to copy & paste the post into a PDF which you can download at the end of the post.
I’m going to attempt to organize these in a way that makes sense. Let’s jump in!
The WordPress Plugins I install in ALL my sites and my client sites
I know that most of those plugins probably don’t need much of an explanation, but just to be safe here’s a few quick little notes on each:
Akismet: WordPress spam filter, created by Auttomatic (the company who owns WordPress). It’s free and will definitely cut down on your spam.
Sign up for an Akismet API Key here
Genesis Simple Sidebars: You have to be using the Genesis Framework by StudioPress for this and what it does is allow you to create custom sidebars for individual posts and pages (it’s pretty awesome).
Download Genesis Simple Sidebars Here
Google Analytics: Pretty self-explanatory, but this will connect with your Google Analytics account and will track and measure your traffic, keywords, etc.
Download Google Analytics here
Gravity Forms: This is a premium plugin that is a true drag and drop form builder. Easily create any type of form you need.
Download Gravity Forms here
Shortcodes Ultimate: Want to add some additional functionality to a post or page? A button? Dropcap? Divider? Accordian? Tabs? Lightbox? Tables? You get the picture… that’s what this plugin does… and it’s free too.
Download Shortcodes Ultimate here
TinyMCE Advanced: The WordPress editor comes with a few options for changing your text size, but unfortunately to do so means you have to create a heading tag and sometimes you just want the font size to be larger, right? TinyMCE lets you add additional options to your WYSIWYG editor.
Download TinyMCE here
WordPress SEO: This plugin needs no introduction I’m sure, but if you’re new to WordPress, you’ll want to install this plugin, set it up and learn how to use it. Better to get off on the right foot with SEO as soon as possible and this plugin is the way to do it.
Download WordPress SEO Here
O.k., let’s move on to the rest! 
(and I’m going to pre-qualify this telling you ahead of time that it’s kind of a big list… but fortunately my hosting company, Flywheel, can handle that and keeps my site running perfectly!)
More WordPress Plugins – 2015
Beaver Builder: I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE this plugin! An amazing front-end visual page builder for your site. What I love about the Beaver Builder plugin is that it comes with custom page templates for both your homepage (yep, I
used this for my new homepage that you see on the site now) and content templates.
Get Beaver Builder here
Blubrry Powerpress: I’ve been using Powerpress since I launched my podcast a couple years ago- still love it. I do also use Pat Flynn’s Smart Podcast Player (on my homepage) because I love having more of a ‘playlist’ style and I’m testing if that player keeps people on the site longer.
Download Blubrry Powerpress here
CoSchedule: I’ve had CoSchedule for far longer than I want to admit because I haven’t gotten in the swing of things in terms of using this awesome editorial calendar and sharing plugin. CoSchedule is an editorial calendar that you can plan out all your content AND set up social sharing. I still absolutely LOVE this plugin and it’s a phenomenal tool for planning your content marketing.
Get CoSchedule
Easy Social Share Plugin: I’ve tried a handful of different social sharing plugins (this is for making it easy for other people to share your content) and have to say this is probably my favorite. I love the flat style and wanted something that wasn’t going to be really intrusive or too large. This was super easy to set up after the install.
Get Easy Social Share Plugin
Genesis Title Toggle: Sometimes you just don’t want to have the page title show up on the page, right? That’s what Genesis Title Toggle will do for you. Just click the box to say “hide” page title and you’re done.
Download Genesis Title Toggle
LeadIn Pro: This is a must-have plugin for anyone serious about lead generation and tracking your visitors activity. Anytime someone fills out a form on your site, LeadIn will send you and email showing you what your visitors did and what form they filled out. No reason not to use this free plugin!
Get LeadIn Pro here
Pretty Link Lite: I use this for shortening and masking links, whether it’s an affiliate link, a shorter podcast link or a landing page hosted elsewhere. Free in the plugin repository.
Get Pretty Link lite here
ShortPixel Image Optimizer: OMG! I just found this plugin and LOVE it! Install this plugin and let it run it’s magic. It will go through your media library and compress all your images into smaller file sizes (not dimensions, just taking up less space). I have a boatload of graphics and images in my site and this did it all (I’ll be doing a post on this soon I’m sure). Free to download while they’re in beta.
Get ShortPixel Image Optimizer here
Simple Social Icons: Pretty self-explanatory, but you can add your social media profile icons to your site with this awesome plugin. You can decide the shape (square, circle, rounded edges), size, color and hover color. That simple.
Download Simple Social Icons here
Smart Podcast Player: This is the player you see on the homepage of my site- and I love it! Because it was created by Pat Flynn (well, he has developers), I knew it would be a quality product. I don’t use it on my individual podcast posts (this is really just me being lazy. I like that PowerPress is in and automatic after I add my file). Great for showcasing a playlist, post and multiple episodes.
Get the Smart Podcast Player here
Starbox Author Box:This is the author box you see at the end of my posts- and I love it. The premium version comes with more social sharing options and premium support (always worth a one-time fee), but the free version is a great way to get started with this plugin.
Download the Starbox Author Box here
Thrive Content Builder: I’ve been in love with this visual page builder since the first moment I saw it! Create custom posts, pages, landing pages and more! Created by the brilliant team over at Thrive Themes. I’ve done a handful of videos on the content builder which you can see here.
Get Thrive Content Builder
Thrive Leads: Yep, you read that correctly! Thrive themes now has a LEAD GENERATION plugin! WOOHOO! At the time of this writing it hasn’t been released to the public yet but I believe it will released on or around February 17th (so if you’re reading this after that date you’re in luck!). I’m a HUGE fan of the Thrive Content Builder (and have started working with Thrive Themes as well) and am LOVING this plugin. Add a pop-up, ribbon, post footer, widget and more. Easily split-test these as well. LOVE it!
Get Thrive Leads here
Tweet Dis: I just got this about a week ago and I got it for a very specific reason. To make good looking ‘tweet this’ boxes when I use quotes, want something shared and in my podcast episodes (creating a tweet this box for my guest). This is a premium plugin but it’s a one time fee. You can see the tweet box in this podcast post.
Get Tweet Dis here
WordPress Zero Spam: This one is probably pretty self-explanatory, but suffice it to say I was getting enough spam that I wanted to give this a shot and am happy to say no more spam! I literally just installed this, activated it and let it do it’s thing. Not too shabby!
Download WordPress Zero Spam here
SO.. there you have it.
I’m sure this list will change (new plugins added and some removed). I’ve pulled this list together in a PDF and you can download it below. Enjoy!
The post The WordPress Plugins I’m Using – An Update for 2015 [DOWNLOAD] appeared first on StudioPress Genesis Tutorials | WordPress Training | The WordPress Chick.