Wordpress Directory

These are the beste new WordPress plugins of 2009 (that I’ve seen so far)!  Every year there’s a WordPress plugin Competition, and the prize is $3,000 for the best one.  I LOVE the WP plugin competition – because it inspires people to create great new things.  Every year I check the plugin blog because I always find all kinds of really cool plugins that do things either that we “really need”, or things I’ve never seen before.  This post is a compilation of what (I feel) are the best new plugins of 2009 from the official competition.  I hope you feel the same way about them I do – because this year there are some REALLY good entries!

PixoPoint Menu

PixoPoint Menu is pretty cool!  There’s a sh*tload of plugins for creating dropdowns, but this has two key elements you will LOVE!  Not only can you style the sh*t out of them from the plugin admin, but you can also arrange them drag and drop just like widgets!  It makes creating menus childsplay!  Check out PixoPoint Menu.

WordPress Bar

This plugin is great, it creates that little bar at the top when users click links and leave your site (like the DiggBar).  Many sites have this, what a great way to brand your site!  The key thing I like is the fact that in the bar you can have a section listing all the links from the post or page they came from – that’s handy as hell!  I think that this plugin has some AWESOME potential!  Click here to download WordPress Bar.

WP Announcements

I’ve seen a thousand drop in scripts to do lightbox when users visit a page to announce or promote something – but this is the first WP plugin I’ve seen you can just drop in to get it done.  It does one thing, and it does it well!  Click here to download WP Announcements.

W3 Total Cache

WordPress uses a lot of server memory, and with a decent theme and a basket full of plugins, once you start to get a steady stream of visitors you can have quite an impact your your web host.  The only (decent) caching plugin I’ve seen is WP Super Cache – and it’s done a great job of turning WP pages and db queries into static HTML.  It appears (on the surface) W3 Total Cache goes well beyond that and then some!

From the plugin FAQ page:

• it works with all other plugins
• it works with WPMU
• it speeds up everything, including comments
• it works with WP versions 2.5+
• it improves page rendering
• saves you bandwith
• it can even cache your feeds

Download W3 Total Cache

Posts By Tag Plugin

I’m including this plugin just because it does one thing and it does it well.  It provides a sidebar widget where you can show posts for a paticular tag.  I think this should have been part of native WordPress a long, long time ago.  Great idea, download Posts by Tag.

Section Widget Plugin

This plugin is also one that should have existed a LONG time ago!  Let’s say you have a widge, and you want it to display only on one page, or some pages.  You want an image, text, announcement, or ad on just certain category, tag, or paged pages.  How do you get it done?  There was the widget logic plugin (which worked, but was VERY complex).  Point and click now my friends!  Download Section Widget plugin.

Import HTML Pages Plugin

Here’s a beauty of a plugin – import html pages, or an ENTIRE DIRECTORY of html pages and this plugin will create posts or pages in WordPress!  If you have pages inside directories it can even create parent and child pages!  It can EVEN use dreamweaver content area template tags!  I know this plugin will be a lifesaver for many people!  Download Import HTML Pages Plugin for WordPress.

Do you have a favorite new plugin you’ve found?  Comment now!