I think it’s fair to say that I love Wordpress! Whether it’s for a blog or a fully blown CMS Wordpress can handle it all. The power of the ‘press can be increased by adding any one of thousands of plugins. My plan is to bring you what I think are some of the hottest and most useful plugins each month.

I’m having a go at writing my own plugin so watch this space next month!

1. Related external links – It took me ages to find a decent plugin that allows you to add links to related sites/posts which then display in the sidebar. Most plugins of this type go through your post and pull out links you have made inline and then display them.
2. WP Super Edit – Not content with the basic functionality of the standard Tiny MCE editor? This plugin allows you to customise which editor controls you have through a really simple drag and drop environment.  I have used it to add table functionality to pages but other useful options include custom CSS styles, <div> tags and search and replace.
3. Yoast Breadcrumbs – If using Wordpress as a CMS then chances are you will want a breadcrumb. This plugin makes it really simple to quickly add a breadcrumb trail to your pages.
4. kPicasa Gallery – Upload all your photos to Google’s Picasa and the plugin loads them direct into your site in a nice gallery and light box environment. See it in action on one of my sites.
5. Addthis – Quickly add an Addthis button to your posts and let people share with their friends.