This is a list of the ten plug-ins I use most. Most of these should already be familiar judging by the download stats- but perhaps there’s one or two in here you haven’t seen before.

1) WP-DBManager

There is nothing worse than losing your entire site due to a server glitch or a corrupted database.  Everyone who uses WordPress should have regular backups automatically sent to their e-mail. If your site never has a problem, that’s great, but if it does you’ll be very happy this plug-in was installed. WP-DBManager lets you schedule backups on a monthly, weekly, or even hourly basis. For more advanced users, you can also use it to run SQL Queries and optimize your database. If advanced options aren’t necessary, the WP-Backup plug-in is also a great choice.

2) All in One SEO Pack

There is a reason the All in One SEO pack has over 3 million downloads: search engines will find your content easier. The SEO pack automatically optimizes page titles for search engines, generates META tags, and creates Canonical URLs (trust me, it’s good). It does all this out of the box, without any configuration- but advanced users can also override the defaults and customize meta tags, titles, and keywords for any page on the site.

3) Google XML Sitemaps

While we’re on the subject of SEO, why not let search engines know where your content is and when its updated? With this plug-in, every time you edit or create a post, your sitemap is updated and all major search engines are notified.

4) Secure WordPress

Using a security plug-in shouldn’t take the place of keeping WordPress up to date and setting difficult passwords, but it can help with some of the smaller details. Secure WordPress removes the version number from the meta data, creates an index.php file to keep directories from showing, and prevents non-admins from updating plug-ins. For even more security, you can use this in conjunction with the Limit Login Attempts plug-in.

5) Askimet or WP-Spam Free

Do you want spam on your site? Didn’t think so. Askimet comes standard with WordPress. If you’d prefer not register your API, try WP-SpamFree.

6) WP Super Cache

When your site loads quickly, users are less likely to leave before the page loads, they look at more content, and judge your site as more reputable. The Super-Cache plug-in reduces this load time by creating cached static html files and reducing database requests. Although this plug-in may just provide a slight speed increase during normal traffic, it is absolutely essential if thousands of people start visiting you site all at once (such as after a digg). A sudden increase in traffic can quickly bring a site down, but with Super-Cache, you have a much better chance of staying live and serving all your users.

7) cForms or Contact Form 7

I haven’t built a site yet that didn’t need a contact form. Contact Form 7 is what I use if I just need something simple. Just install, type the shortcode, and let it work. cForms is a more complete solution and can handle much more than a simple contact message. Let’s say you want a 3-page form, an automated e-mail, a custom message using variables from the form, and different styling for each of the fields- well, then you’d want cForms. It’s a bit intense to see all the capabilities the first time you use it, but it’s unparalleled in scope, and boasts a well-designed backend interface.

8) FD Feedburner Plugin

If you are trying to build a website with a lot of regular readers, I recommend using Feedburner. It makes it easier for your audience to choose the delivery method, be it e-mail or a feed reader, and provides detailed information about how many people are subscribed and what content they look at. This plug-in simply redirects all your feeds to the appropriate Feedburner url.

9) WordPress.com Stats

I use WordPress.com stats in addition to Google Analytics. It shows all the important stats information directly on the dashboard, including number of visitors, popular pages, and top search keywords.

10) Maintenance Mode

If I am in the development process with a WordPress site, or if I need to make major changes to the theme, maintenance mode is an essential plug-in. It lets users know that the site will be offline for a specified time, and still allows logged-in administrators to access to the site and view changes.

Anything else?

There are hundreds of incredible plug-ins that provide almost any type of functionality for WordPress- these are just the ten I use most. Is there something I’m missing? What do you use? Leave a comment and let me know.