In the following I present the plugins I tested for my new WordPress Installation. I initially started with 2.7.x and hope to finish with 2.8.x. In total in tested more the 3 times more plugins than presented here. So many because for every task there are typically about 10 plugins which could be used and additionally because there are new plugins which provide new functionality which I wanted to test. Unfortunately most plugins are either not compatible with the current WP or do not satisfy me. Most frustrating is however that many plugins are buggy itself or with other plugins. To find out the error caused by 2 of 100 plugins can take hours.

To summarize: Choosing plugins is difficult erroneous and highly frustrating. In total I spend something like 40-80 hours only to test and realise a bug free collection of plugins.

Why did I put this long article together? – Because I can work on the new website only on weekends and if I have enough free time. Since I forget what plugins are usefull and why they did not work I had to make a site to remind me. With the help of this information it is now much easier for me, and maybe others, to start a new website.

Recommended plugins are marked with “*”, so you have an idea what I chose in the end for my installation.

Security

  • * WP Security Scan
    Scans your WordPress installation for security vulnerabilities and suggests corrective actions. (Only activate for scans)
  • * WordPress Exploit Scanner
    This plugin searches the files and database of your website for signs of suspicious activity.
  • * TAC (Theme Authenticity Checker)
    TAC scans all of your theme files for potentially malicious and unwanted code.

Access Restriction

  • Page Restrict
    This plugin will allow you to restrict all, none, or certain pages to logged in users only.
  • Hidden Content
    Some blocks of the text can be shown/hidden for bots, logged-in users or all visitors (in posts, pages and comments)
  • Members Only
    plugin that allows you to make your blog only viewable to visitors that are logged in
  • WP Sentry
    This is a simple plugin to allow for access-restricted posting, allowing bloggers to discuss sensitive subjects without Google or the world finding the post.
    Access to the private marked pages granted on users/group based settings.
  • Role Manager
    This Plugin allows you to define and manage multiple subscriber profiles – called Roles and their Capabilities. Also you can create new Roles and Capabilities.