13 Valuable Non-blogging Plugins for WordPress

While WordPress is one of the biggest names in blogging, its value reaches far beyond the blogosphere. WordPress delivers exceptional performance in a wide variety of forms including forums, job boards, wordpress e-commerce themes,  WordPress Photo Theme and plenty more. It is a content management system with a seemingly endless range of talents. This article looks at 13 non-blogging plugins that use WordPress to get business done, get information disseminated or discussed, engage in social networking, and present your content to the world. We hope you’ll find many ways to make more use of the tools you already have when you drop these valuable plugins into the mix!

Disclosure: Please note that some of the links below are affiliate links and I will earn a commission if you purchase through those links (at no extra cost to you). I recommend that you do your own independent research before purchasing any product or service. This article is not a guideline, a recommendation or endorsement of specific products.

Advertisement

1. Business Directory

This versatile plugin gives users an easy way to set up a free business directory page for all of those who interact with their site. Clients, readers, vendors, affiliates, advertisers or members are given step by step forms for creating a page with name, contact information and all the details they want to provide, including a live URL. This is great for networking and showing appreciation to those who do business with you.

2. WP Wiki

If you want to form a knowledge base pertinent to your industry, club, field, or membership, this plugin adds wiki functionality instantly. Customize the information pool by adding FAQs, articles, links to related content, and lots more.

3. WP JobBoard

Fire up a jobs board on your site with paid or free listings. Giving readers a chance to market themselves on your site will surely be appreciated, and you can make some extra money, too. It features free listings for appropriate jobs like volunteer work; paid listings of various duration and cost; the option to auto-approve or manually approve each post; unlimited job categories; and payments handled through PayPal’s IPN.

4. My Review

Add reviews to any WordPress, to highlight new products, examine articles, and more. The setup lets you easily highlight the good, the bad and the ugly, and adds the kind of value to your site that keeps visitors coming back for more. It gives readers the chance to post reviews, too.

5. WP Review Site

Reviewing other sites on your site does two things: it gives you a reputation as an authority, and it supplies helpful knowledge to others. Those two ingredients are right near the top of the list for keeping your site visitors locked in.

6. WP e-Commerce

This really is an outstanding e-commerce platform to make transactions happen from your sites with flawless ease. Its shopping cart is very functional and the design features allow for quality customization in the look and feel of the pages, so they match the tone you’ve already set for your site. Good integration with your other features and multiple, easy payment options. Another option is to use a WordPress shop theme.

7. Free Photos

Free images abound on the net. This plugin allows access to them FOC! Pics from the worlds of sports, celeb news, hard news, nature, etc., allow you to bring visuals to your pages for a much more compelling presentation. Another option is to use WordPress Photography Themes to build an online portfolio.Also check out this article showing Photography website templates.

8. Next Gen Gallery

Do you sell a range of items that has to be seen to be believed? Do you have the funniest set of “that guy” photos on the web? Are the pooches in your dog club irresistibly good looking? This plugin provides more options to let you display all the pictures you’ve got in a professional-quality gallery.

9. Semiologic

You know by know that adding a newsletter to your site delivers too many advantages to ignore. This plugin offers a smooth as silk way for others to subscribe, so all you have to focus on is coming up with quality content. It’s completely friendly with aweber, majordomo, getresponse, 1shopping cart, and all of the services with list-subscribe@domain.com email functionality.

10. Buddy Press

Want to build a social network around your team, company, club, school, church, or community – either online or physical? The next big thing in social networking is small groups within the LARGE group. Niches, cliques, or whatever you want to call them. Building them produces solid response and interaction, and this plugin helps make it happen.

11. MeeNews

Here’s a plugin to help you create that site magnet known as a newsletter. This nifty plugin offers generous customization for the layout and design. It is also a breeze to integrate with your existing subscriber or email list.

12. Simple Press

When your site becomes a place for your visitors to hang out and get in their two cents worth, those visitors may well be converted to regulars, customers, buyers, affiliates, etc. Simple Press integrates well as other simple WordPress themes with your existing records and has proven to be scalable as your numbers grow exponentially.

13. Smart YouTube

Adding video to your site will grow readership – you know that from your own online experience. SEO experts are recommending video for any site that wants to get a boost in rankings, too. If you’ve discovered the flexibility of WordPress and are finding a growing number of uses for its abilities, these non-blogging plugins will help you make hay with the expanding possibilities it presents.

If you are up to more awesome best wordpress plugins then check out this article.

Author : James Adams

James is a designer and writer who works with a UK based online shop specialising in Epson printer ink, toner, paper and other printing accessories. You can read more of his writing on their blog.