If you are new to WordPress, then you have undoubtedly been cast into the vast world of plugins, which sometimes seem to have no end. And finding one that perfectly fits your needs may seem to be an impossible task. Of course the plugin rating system helps a lot, but it’s far from perfect.

Consider yourself lucky, as I have a list of go-to-must-have plugins that I install in almost every WordPress instance I create. I’m sure it will be useful to someone.

• Add Meta Tags — This plugin adds meta tags to your articles based on the categories, tags, featured image, and excerpt chosen. This becomes extremely useful for Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, as well as for various social plugins that import your articles for consumption via likes, +1′s, and shares. Definitely a must have plugin.
• BackWPup –BackWPup allows you to export your database, as well as your files, to various services on a schedule. This ensures that if your server ever craps out and loses all your data, that you will a backup to get your server up and running again. Of course such backups can be done manually, and hopefully your host is doing some type of backup, but the automation and ease of use, along with the added peace of mind, is totally worth getting this plugin.
• Blubrry PowerPress — Blubrry Powerpress is the best way to go if you are looking to release a podcast via your WordPress site. Setup is easy and you also have the option to integrate stats from the Blubrry website.
• Disqus Comment System — Disqus is probably the most popular third-party commenting system on the web. This plugin provides easy setup and management of comments to your site. I find this is the number one way to reduce WordPress spam. Must have.
• Google XML Sitemap — With Google Webmaster Tools, your XML sitemap will be used to more easily index your site and ultimately provide better SEO.
• Scissors Continued — This is the best plugin that I’ve found for adding watermarks to only images of a particular size.
• Simple Local Avatars — Profile avatar integration is probably one of the most disappointing parts of WordPress. Avatar functionality is built into the system, but there is by default no way to easily add an avatar to a particular user. This plugin takes care of that, as you can easily upload an image to a users profile and it will be seen throughout the site where applicable.
• Ultimate Google Analytics — Google Analytics is hands down the website tracking tool of choice for the web. This plugin provide an easy way to get the analytics tracking code on all of your pages.
• WP to Twitter — Although setup is not the most user friendly, WP to Twitter provides an easy way to auto-publish your articles to the highly popular micro-blogging platform.

Hope these help! What are your must have WordPress plugins?

If you have ever added a website bookmark to your home screen on an Apple iOS device (iPhone or iPad), then you know that often times the preview icon you get is less than desirable. If your a web developer, then you may have often wondered if it was possible to have your website icon displayed on the home screen rather than a screen capture of the webpage. Well, it can be done, and it’s actually quite easy.

Create your website icon – Create you website icon with desired graphics, at 512 pixels by 512 pixels, and PNG format. Name and place the icon on your web server.

<link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="/your-image-path/your-icon-name.png" />

Add the above code snippet to your html header – Place the above code between your website header tags and that’s it. Enjoy pretty app-like website icons on iOS home screens!

Before / After

I have no idea if this works on Android, as I don’t have an Android device, but I can confirm that it does not work on Windows Phone 7, which is unfortunate. Although, there is a hack-a-round way to get it working on Windows Phone 7, hopefully they’ll support this natively in Windows Phone 8.

According to a recent Engadget article, all console emulators created by a developer named YonGzh (Nesoid, Snesoid, Gensoid, N64oid, Ataroid, Gearoid and Gameboid), have been removed from the Android Marketplace and his developer account closed. But the writing may have already been on the wall for this developer, as two of his emulators were removed last month, after Google received complaints from Sega.

Emulators are fair game on PC’s and Macs, why should it be any different here? I’m sure Google has its reasons for going through with this, but for now –seek alternative marketplaces on your Android devices for your emulation goodness.

via Android Markets most popular emulators disappear without a trace update — Engadget.

First off, let’s be clear, I love the Zune Desktop Software. So you could imagine how happy I was to notice that a recent Zune Software update was available. Well, that’s where my joy ended.

Read On →