In Dallas, August 29, 2010, at OpenCamp I presented “Mind Blowing WordPress Plugins.” Here are the WordPress Plugins and more features during my presentation.
Let me first define what my qualifications for a “mind blowing WordPress Plugin” were, as I had to sift through thousands of Plugins and then filter down to include the following in my 50 minute presentation.
To me, a mind blowing WordPress Plugin is one that breaks the rules. It is unique and original in its implementation, and pushes WordPress. It might not be a Plugin that everyone must have on their site. It might not be a Plugin that even interests you. What these will do is to get you to look at the incredible diversity of Plugins available. If you are a Plugin author, hopefully these will light up your imagination as to the possible, building upon these and incorporating their originality into your Plugins.
I’d love to know if you’ve found a WordPress Plugin that really and truly blows your mind, pushing the capability of WordPress beyond “just a blog” or simple website. Almost all Plugins push WordPress, but I adore the ones that really shove it around.
WordPress Plugins
As of the day I gave my presentation, there were 11,040 WordPress Plugins in the WordPress Plugin Directory. That’s not counting all the WordPress Plugins not in the Directory.
In fact, our blogs are built on WordPress Plugins. Even here on WordPress.com, Plugins fire up a lot of the features we use, even if we can’t add Plugins ourself.
In the beginning of 2006, I spent an entire month writing about almost nothing but WordPress Plugins in a A Month of WordPress Plugins, showcasing over two hundred WordPress Plugins. Introducing it, I spent months crawling the web to gather your Lists of Your Favorite WordPress Plugins and compiled the results of your lists into What Are Your Favorite WordPress Plugins? I reviewed the list to see which Plugins were still active with continued support and interest and was surprised to find most of them still rocking, and some even incorporated into the core.
The cumulative list included:
- Akismet
- WordPress Database Backup
- Ultimate Tag Warrior WordPress Plugin is now deprecated as tags are in the core.
- Popularity Contest
- WP-Cache – Today: W3 Total Cache WordPress Plugin or WP Super Cache WordPress Plugin
- Gravatars
- PodPress WordPress Plugin updated to work with WordPress 3.0 by Tim Berger
- Google Sitemap Generators: XML Sitemap WordPress Plugins from the WordPress Plugin Directory
- Ryan Duff’s Contact Form WordPress Plugin – Today Contact Form 7 WordPress Plugin or Fast Secure Contact Form WordPress Plugin
- Adhesive WordPress Plugin (replaced by Sticky Posts feature in the WordPress Core)
- Subscribe to Comments
- Bad Behavior and Spam Karma 2
- Global Translator WordPress Plugin by Nothing2Hide
- Customizable Post Listings WordPress Plugin
- Customizable Comment Listings WordPress Plugin




In May of 2010, over 150 of the brightest minds in online business, web publishing, blogging, and social media gathered in Chicago for the 4th annual
Standing in the museum, the quiet whispers around me, a sick feeling sank into me. It’s too quiet. I’m surrounded by art that represents expression – loud, boisterous, almost violent expression – yet people treat it like it’s a church. I wanted to laugh out loud. I wanted to shout. I wanted to dance.

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That’s right. One WordCamp is helping another overcoming problems with finding sponsors and funding for their event. That’s love, folks. Pure WordPress love, and an example of the overwhelming support of WordPress fans for their community.



















Get Angry: Blogger Sued For Comments On Their Blog
John is not the first nor the last but the many who have faced legal action and lawsuits for contents and comments on their blogs. The issue of contents is more clear cut when it comes to lawsuits concerning libel and defamation, as well as the freedom of speech in your country. The issue of comments is much more complex.
In general, the “owner” of the comment is the responsible part for their actions. Unfortunately, there are legal decisions that state that if you moderate and edit your comment queue, you are responsible, thus attackable, for any comments that appear on your blog. A good description and legal references can be found on Can Bloggers Be Sued Over Comments? Maybe from Contentious.com and Legal Liability Overview from the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Jonathan Bailey writes a great post on The Legal Issues with Comments that should be a must read. ShoeMoney was among the earliest, publicly exposed blog comment lawsuits in 2006, though attempts were made long before, especially with comments in forums dating back to the early 1990s.
It will be a while before there is a good body of work to support freedom of speech online in blogs, forums, social media publishing platforms (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, etc.), and other social web venues that are supported by laws that really protect citizens to have their say.
Freedom of speech does not mean you can go around saying anything you want anywhere. Freedom of speech implies responsibility. You can saw whatever you want, but you must be willing to live with the consequences of your actions.
Until there is a body of law to support blogger’s and their comments, to support John and others who have been sued for comments on their blogs, here is a reference list of some of the other attempts and commentary on them, as well as some legal decisions, advice, and reviews in their blog comments, to let you know that you are not alone.
Now that you know you are not alone, it’s time for us to stand together. Anyone up for a good fight?
This list is just the few I found during a quick search. If you have heard of more that involve legal specifics, let John and all of us know.
Blog this up. Tweet it out. FB it to your community. We need to let the world know that we, as a blogging body, want the right to freedom of speech for everyone, including those who comment. Let them know that we police our blogs’ comments and are proud of it, but that doesn’t mean we are responsible for the words of others. As I’ve always said, a blog comment is a mini resume. They tend to speak for themselves and their owners. Thus, you are responsible for what you say no matter where you say it, as long as your laws permit you the right to say it. If they don’t, that’s a different battle.
For now, let’s support John and others who fight for their rights to blog free.
Copyright Lorelle VanFossen, member of the 9Rules Network
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