6 useful tools for every WordPress website

WordPress powers many different types of websites. Bloggers use it for blogging, shops — as a selling platform, designers for landing pages. Enterprises create corporate portals, photographers — personal galleries.

Among all this variety, it is rather hard to pick tools that will be useful for everyone. But still, there are some that I consider mandatory for all WordPress websites.

WordPress.com for Google Docs

The default text editor in WordPress is very lame. It does not have auto-replace, co-editing or even adequate style support. That’s why a lot of people, including me, are using Google Documents to create their articles, and then copy-paste them to WordPress.

That takes a lot of time and effort. First you need to copy all text to WordPress. Then, you have to format it and edit the markup. And WordPress does not support pasting of the images, which means that you have to manually upload them to the gallery. Overall, transferring the article from Google Documents to WordPress is a burden.

Thankfully, there is a solution. Add-on WordPress.com for Google Docs will automatically reformat the text to the WordPress markup and send it to your website. All you will have to do is add the image signatures and other markup elements that are not supported by Google Docs.

How to setup WordPress.com for Google Docs

If you are using Google Documents, then skip this part. If you are not, but you have Gmail, then go to the Google Docs main page and enter the login and password from your mail. After that:

1. Go to the add-on page;
2. Click on +Free;
3. On a new tab with a new Google Docs document you will see the request “WordPress.com for Google Docs needs your permission for launch”, click Continue.
4. Click on your Google account.
5. Give the add-on access to your Google Docs by clicking Allow.
6. A new document will open;
7. Create your blog post in it;
8. Once you are done, click Add-Ons > WordPress.com for Google Docs > Open;
9. Click Add WordPress Site on the new panel to left;
10. You’ll be transferred to WordPress.com. Enter your email and password. Click Log In.
11. Click Approve;
12. Return to your document and click Save — this will save it as a draft in your blog;
13. Click Preview to see the result.

Analytics

Web analytics is a special service that gathers the info on the website visitors. Analytics help you to learn from which pages your visitors have arrived, which pages are the most popular, how long have your visitors stayed and many other interesting data. Overall it helps you create content that will be interesting to your readers.

Google Analytics is the most popular service for web analytics. And it is easy to set up on your website — basically, all you have to do is install the plugin and authenticate yourself.

How to setup Google Analytics on a WordPress website

1. Go to the Google Analytics Account Registration Page.
2. If it prompts you to — log into your Google Account.
3. Fill in all the fields;
4. Click Get Tracking ID at the bottom of the page.
5. In the new window, click I Accept.
6. You will see a new page with your ID and a tracking script. Leave this tab open.
7. Open a new tab. Go to your WordPress control panel and install the Google Analytics for WordPress. Activate it. On the left panel, there will be a new option — Google Analytics. Click it.
8. Click Authorize Plugin.
9. Click Get Access Code.
10. Choose your Google account.
11. Click Allow.
12. You will get your Google Code. Copy it and close the tab.
13. Paste your Google Code into the Access Code field. Click Save Access Code.

From now on, your Google Analytics can be found on the Dashboard.

Protection against online attacks

No one likes their website hacked or virus injected. But the development of a proper defense suite costs millions — far more than a usual blogger or eShop can afford. Luckily, there are pre-made solutions — CDN (Content Distribution Networks). Not only they speed up your website, but they also offer protection against most of the attack types.

As of 2017, two CDNs dominate the market — CloudFlare and Sucuri. CloudFlare has a free plan, while Sucuri is premium only. Which one is better is up to you.

How to setup CloudFlare protection on a WordPress website

1. Go to the CloudFlare registration page. Enter your email and create a password. Check the I agree… field. Click Create Account.
2. Enter your website address in Add a website field. Click Scan DNS Records.
3. CloudFlare will scan your domain and show you the recommended settings. DNS records that will be protected by CloudFlare, will be marked with orange cloud. Those that won’t be — with grey. You can click on the marks to turn protection on and off.If some of your DNS records are not listed — add them by filling in the fields above the table and clicking Add Record. Once you are done — click Continue at the bottom of the page.
4. Select the plan and click Continue.
5. CloudFlare will give you new DNS addresses, to which you’ll have to transfer your domain.
6. Go into your CloudFlare account and click View API Key under Global API Key. Save the resulting key API.
7. Install the CloudFlare plugin for WordPress and activate it.
8. Go to Settings > CloudFlare.
9. Enter your CloudFlare email and the API key. Click Save API Credentials.
10. Click Apply, to enable the CloudFlare recommended settings. Also click Enable, to allow CloudFlare to handle your cache automatically.
11. Once CloudFlare asks if you are sure that you want automatic cache handling enabled, click I’m sure.

Spell check

Everyone makes mistakes and mistypes. It’s OK. The main thing is to fix them asap. And that’s where the problems arise.

For example, not that long ago, we found a mistake in our advertisement from two years ago. Of course, no one reads the ads anyway… but it still proves the point.

In order to find mistakes right now, and not two years later, you need a spell check. Every text editor already comes equipped with one, but an extra never hurts. I highly recommend the one that comes embedded with Jetpack, combined with Grammarly for comments.

Automatization

IFTTT (If This, Then That) is a free service that can help you automate your routine. Connect your WordPress website to IFTTT and it will:

1. Add posts to your social network accounts when you post a new article;
2. Archive your old posts to Evernote;
3. Create drafts for posts based on new Trello cards;
4. Crosspost from WordPress to your Tumblr and vice versa;
5. Make photo galleries based on your Instagram accounts;
6. Present your blog stats as a Google Spreadsheet;
7. Send notifications to your phone when a new post is online;
8. Archive all your posts to Pocket as a backup;
9. Create a Reddit post with specific settings whenever you post something on the blog.

You can also create your own scripts — or, as they are called by IFTTT, applets — and share them with other users.

How to connect your WordPress to IFTTT

1. Go to ehe IFTTT registration page to sign up for the service;
2. Enter your email and come up with a password, then click Sign Up;
3. Go to the WordPress section of IFTTT. Click Connect on top of the page;
4. Enter your blog URL, admin username and password. Click Connect.

Now you can pick what applets to activate from the WordPress section.

And what are the best WordPress tools for you? Tell us in comments!