Plugin Guide – Step 3 – Essentials
October 25, 2007 ·
The following 2 plugins are included as standard on a free WordPress blog (that’s how important they are), but need to be uploaded and activated on a Hosted WordPress blog. Without them, you have no way of stopping your blog being inundated with spam comments and have no idea who is visiting your blog and what they are looking at.
No. 1 Essential Plugin – Akismet Spam Filter
You can download a Spam filter to stop 90% of the comments from spammers coming to your email. Download Spam Filter… Once you have downloaded the files, follow step 2 of my Plugin Guide to activate your new plugin. It will ask you for an API key to complete the process. Find out how to get one below.
No 2 Essential Plugin – WordPress Stats
You can download WordPress Stats to view numbers of visitors to your blog on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. This allows you to see which pages they have looked at, which links they have clicked on, where they have come from and what search terms they have used to find you. Download WordPress Stats… Once you have downloaded the files, follow step 2 of my Plugin Guide to activate your new plugin. It will ask you for an API key to complete the process. Find out how to get one below.
Get a WordPress API Key
An API key is a unique WordPress password. You can get one for free by going to www.wordpress.com, click on the big green “Sign Up Now” button, fill in your details and check “Just a username please” at the bottom. Once you have clicked the Next button, you will be emailed your API key.
Additional Info on API keys
- What is an API key?
- If you already have a free wordpress blog, you already have an API key which you can use on your hosted blog. To get it, login to your free blog, go to admin and profile. Copy the key and paste into your hosted blog.
- Once you have an API key, you can put details and a photo into your profile so that when you make comments on other blogs, this info appears.
- Try and use something relevant and not embarrassing for your API key username as it will be visible when you make comments.
Some of my favourite plugins to enhance your blog next…
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