In my ever benevolent state I’ve compiled a list of WordPress plugins that should assist you as you create and install Wordpress for yourself and others. I’ve used many of these and they are very valuable.

And for all you counters out there, I know there are actually twelve but the last two aren’t free and 10 sounds much more round in the title…

Admin Menu Drop Down

Hate clicking around to get to an option page buried deep in the Wordpress Admin soil? Me too.

This is typically the very first plugin I install. When developing with Wordpress you spend a lot of time jumping back and forth in the WP admin menu and this plugin saves you a lot of clicks. And if you are behind a slow corporate firewall it saves you a ton of time from the unnecessary page loads. Get this plugin!

2.5 compatible: Yes
Plugin page: http://planetozh.com/blog/my-projects/wordpress-admin-menu-drop-down-css/

One Click Install

If the Admin Drop Down Menu plugin the first thing I install this plugin is a close second and sometimes first…

This is an amazing plugin that can eliminate the downloading, unzipping, uploading circus that one must go through for each plugin he wishes to install. With One Click you can copy the link to the zip file, paste it in the admin page, click go and your plugin is uploaded, unpacked and installed. You just have to activate it. Get this plugin!

2.5 compatible: Yes
Plugin page: http://anirudhsanjeev.org/oneclick-plugin/

Activate All

If you have a directory of plugins you use all the time for specific installs it may actually save you time to upload all at once and use this plugin.

Once this plugin is activated it takes a stroll around the plugin folder and activates everything it can get its hands on with no additional work for you.

2.5 compatible: Yes
Plugin page: http://mass-automation.com/2006/10/19/activate-all-of-your-wordpress-plugins-with-one-click/

The download page on the site doesn’t seem to be working at the moment so I’ll post my zip file of the plugin here. Please check the authors site first before using this one. If the authors download comes back I’ll remove this link.

Plugin Central

If this plugin and the One Click Install plugin could mate and have a love child, Wordpress plugin life would be sweet indeed.

Plugin Central allows you to automatically update all of your plugins and install new plugins from the dashboard. It also generates a list of all plugins and active plugins from its settings page.

The only downsides to this plugin is that there is a giant author credit right at the forefront of the dashboard which may not be professional for some client installs. And in order to install plugins automatically they must be in the Wordpress plugin repository.

(Update) The plugin has been updated. The newest version has removed the author credit and allows you to install files from the url (any zip file should work).

2.5 compatible: Yes – And only WP 2.5
Plugin page: http://www.prelovac.com/vladimir/wordpress-plugins/plugin-central

PHP Info

If you need to know if your eAccelerator is enabled this plugin is for you.

It also gives you other pertinent php and Wordpress specific information.

2.5 compatible: Yes
Plugin page: http://wordpress.designpraxis.at/plugins/phpinfo/

WP-Debug

If you are into writing a lot of php and need to do some debugging because your code just doesn’t seem to work this plugin may help.

(update) The plugin has Krumo bundled with it and you don’t need to be a hard core php developer to use this. The author uses it a lot for theme design. This could be a very valuable time saving plugin.

2.5 compatible: Yes
Plugin page: http://www.siolon.com/2007/wp-debug/

Diagnosis

If you are an information junkie and need to know-it-all, this plugin is for you. It displays all sorts of technical data about the server Wordpress is installed on.

2.5 compatible: Yes
Plugin page: http://nlindblad.org/wordpress/diagnosis

DB Backup

Before you start screwing around with stuff too much you might want to do a database backup.

Don’t come to this site crying when your really cool modified version of the Hello plugin wiped out all your posts from the last 10 years.

2.5 compatible: Yes
Plugin page: http://www.ilfilosofo.com/blog/wp-db-backup/

PHP My-Admin

After you screwed up your database from your awesome new plugin you created you’ll need to access it to delete all of the entries it made.

This would normally be a pain but if you have the phpMyAdmin plugin installed its easy access from your Wordpress admin.

2.5 compatible: Yes
Plugin page: http://wordpress.designpraxis.at/plugins/wp-phpmyadmin/

Site Unavailable

As you are developing the next Bloggie worthy site you probably don’t want the whole world peeking in.

This plugin hides the site and lets the user know it is down for maintenance. The plugin includes a style sheet so you can pretty up the default screen.

The author also credits himself on the unavailable screen which might be unprofessional for some client installs.

2.5 compatible: Yes
Plugin page: http://thefunzone.awardspace.com/wordpress/?page_id=51

Auto-Installer (not free)

While not free this plugin looks like it could be very useful to the right person. WP Auto-Installer allows you to easily create Wordpress blogs with just a few clicks.

2.5 compatible: Should be if you have to pay for it.
Plugin page: http://wpautoinstaller.com/

WordPress Cloner (not free)

WP Cloner scans the settings, plugins and posts of your perfectly configured blog and then allows you quickly configure any other blog with those exact details. It basically copies the configuration of one blog and pastes it onto any number of other blog.

2.5 compatible: Should be if you have to pay for it.
Plugin page: http://wp-cloner.com/