A selection of favourite WordPress plugins, put together for the KLCK Bloggers Network gathering in Kilkenny in October 2010. These plugins form part of my Wordpress "toolbox", plugins I look to employ in every blog I start up.

1. WordpressPlugins Making your blog sing (a bit more) with

2. 1. Subscribe To Comments (2 plugins) Keep them coming back Need to edit your template Allows visitor to subscribe to comments on a post Massive help to kenmc.com’s early traffic. Plugin: Subscribe to comments & Subscribe to comments now!

3. 2. Gravity Forms – Gravityforms.com Commercial plugin but worth the investment if you need to manage forms on your blog. Starts at US$39 Custom build all kinds of forms from within your blog and store the results in the admin area. Have used for school registration, event registration, job applications and more.

4. 3. ShareThis (Version 4.04) Sharing made easy. Allow your readers to share your posts on Twitter / Facebook / LinkedIn / Delicious Appears as a button on the end of your posts or pages.

5. 4. Wordpresspopular posts Highlight the popular articles. Works like latest comments / latest posts. Can take into account number of views on a post, number of comments, keeps the busy posts to the front.

6. 5. Twitter Tools Automatically tweet your posts from your blog. Can also create summary blog posts from a week on Twitter. Nice widget for your sidebar to display latest Tweets.

7. 6. Follow Me (WPFollowMe) Add a badge to your blog to encourage people to follow you on Twitter. Badge is positioned around the edge of the screen so no editing themes. User clicks badge, lands on your Twitter profile.

8. 7. All In One SEO Pack For really making your blog tick in terms of SEO. Custom titles, descriptions, keywords, menu titles and more. Really get the most out of your blog’s content on search engines.

9. 8. Google XML Sitemaps If using Google Webmaster Tools, a must. Creates an XML sitemap of all the content in your blog. Map is updated every time you make a change and pinged. Google uses sitemap when indexing your blog for search results. Got a map, get seen!

10. 9. Tal.ki Embeddable Forums Available for standalone websites and Wordpress blogs. No need to register, just create a forum, embed javascript or activate plugin. Users sign in with a Facebook / Google / Yahoo account and get posting.

11. 10. Mailchimp / Analytics360 Free email newsletter service. Send up to 6,000 emails a month to 1,000 subscribers for free. Analytics360 combines Mailchimp and Google Analytics into your Wordpress dashboard. Mailchimp(Plugin) Adds a mailing list widget for signups without having to edit template. Mailchimp run a free online webinar every week about getting started with your email newsletters. (45 mins)

12. 11. Simple Yearly Archive Got a busy blog? Let users find old posts with ease. Uses a shortcode [SimpleYearlyArchive] to display a list of all previous posts by title. Can include date, comment count. A must for old and well-filled blogs.

13. Those plugins again… Subscribe To Comments Gravity Forms Share This Wordpress Popular Posts Twitter Tools FollowMe All In One SEO Pack Google XML Sitemaps Tal.ki Forums Analytics360 Simple Yearly Archive

14. Where to get them All of the plugins mentioned are available to download through Wordpress or via Wordpress.org GravityForms available via GravityForms.com MailChimp available for free via MailChimp.com

15. Find me online Online http://eventmedia.ie http://kenmc.com Twitter @eventmedia @kenmcguire Facebook http://facebook.com/kenmcguire