Continuing from yesterday...
Remember that each one of these adds another attack vector, so go with the minimal needs from a trustworthy developer that updates their software and actively supports users.
## Security
- Cloudflare Free with 3 Page Rules and 5 WAF Rules (free)
- Minimally, add 2FA with Melapress WP 2FA (free)
- I use Solid Security Pro with optional Patchstack (paid)
- Optional HTTP Headers plugin (free)
- Optional wp-fail2ban plugin (free)
- Simple History plugin (free)
I have some WordPress security-related videos up on a older site at
## SEO
- Slim SEO plugin (free)
- Slim SEO Schema plugin (paid)
## CDN
- Cloudflare Free (free)
- (minimum of $1/month)
## Email
- FluentSMTP plugin (free)
## Backups & Migration
- WPvivid plugin (free)
- WPvivid Pro plugin (paid)
- WPvivid Backup for MainWP
- All-in-One WP Migration plugin (free) + one paid extension to your favorite cloud storage provider
- Better Search & Replace plugin (free)
## Performance
- Cloudflare Free but Paid version gets some amazing security & speed boosts
- Perfmatters plugin (paid) - MUST HAVE for performance
- Without Perfmatters, you can get some of the most important CSS / JavaScript optimizations using AutoOptimize plugin (free)
- Cache Enabler 1.4.9 plugin (free) with Block Plugin Updates plugin (free)
- Without Perfmatters, use Disable Comments (free)
## Google Analytics
- GTM4WP plugin (free)
- SiteKit plugin (free) - Don't use together with GTM4WP unless you fine tune it.
## Fonts
- I host Google Fonts locally with Perfmatters plugin (paid).
- OMGF plugin (free) will do it for free
## Accessibility
- Accessibility is not just for low-vision or disabled people!
- Add ALT-TEXT to everything that s not decorative!
- Accessibility New Window Warnings plugin (free)
- Accessibility Checker by Equalize plugin (free)
## Policies and Cookie Consent
- Usercentrics via Termadeggon (paid service that couples with Cookie Notice plugin) - MUST HAVE for policies and cookie compliance.
## Forms & Form/Comment Spam
- Fluent Forms (free & paid) - Even the free version can pass Form View and Form Submission events into GA4!
- Gravity Forms (paid)
- Cleantalk Spam Protect (paid @ $12/mo/site)
- Cloudflare Turnstile (free)
## Development
- CommandUI plugin (paid) - MUST HAVE if you spend time in WordPress backend
- Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) (free & paid)
- Local WP for local development (free)
- Fluent Snippets plugin (free)- If you're starting with snippets and want free
- WPCodeBox plugin (paid). If you're serious about security & performance, stop using code snippet plugins in production. Move them to a your own custom plugin and uninstall WPCodeBox so there's 1 less attack vector and things run from files and not database.
- Advanced Post Types Order plugin (free) - not needed with ASE Pro
- Admin Page Spider plugin (free)
- Better Search Replace plugin (free)
- Redirection plugin (free)
- WP Reset PRO plugin (paid). We all make mistakes.
## Themes & Blocks & Custom Post Types
- GeneratePress Theme (free)
- GeneratePress Premium plugin (paid)
- GenerateBlock plugin (free)
- GenerateBlocks Pro plugin (paid)
- I have respect for Kadence Theme (free & paid) and Astra Theme (free & paid)
- Bricks Builder (paid) for fine control and Webflow like experience
- Stay away from ALL other page builders including...the built-in default Block Themes. Generally speaking, block themes are not good and hard to use, but If you want to experiment then Ollie, Frost, Avant-Garde, Jace, and Wabi are respected by my colleagues. All free and some have paid add-ons.
- BlankSlate Theme (free) as a "fall back theme" just in case things fail.
- Block Visibility plugin (free)
- Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) Pro (paid, but free version is amazing too!). Only download from their own website and not wordpress repository
- Gridbuilder WP (paid)
## Images
- WPvivid Image Optimizer – up to 2000 images per month is free.
- Short Pixel Optimizer plugin (compression as a service)
- Enable Media Replace plugin (free)
## Videos
- Streamer (pay for storage costs)
- Presto Player plugin (paid)
## Advanced Animations
- Motion.page plugin (free)
## Social Media
- WP Social Ninja plugin (paid) - For embedding feeds
- Bit Social plugin (free) - for posting directly from WordPress
- Lightweight Social Icons plugin (free) - For allowing users to click to share. Ignore the fact that it is 5 years old
## Very basic page speed testing
- WebPageTest for waterfall & performance testing (free up to a limit)
- PageSpeed Insights (free)
## Remote Maintenance & Monitoring
- MainWP system (paid) - MUST HAVE if you have multiple installs
- MainWP Child plugin (free)
- for checking in automatically to see if pages don't appear the same after updates - (open source, but quite cheap if you setup your own on something like PikaPods)
- BetterStack for uptime monitoring (paid)
