37 Killer WordPress Plugins which are Hidden Gems

By Nimesh Patel 9 min Read

Table of Contents

    We have been contemplating writing about the Top WordPress Plugins to use in 2017 from quite some time. However, with plenty of 50-something and 20-something lists out there, we thought let’s not make another post listing plugins, people are already aware of.

    So, how do you come up with a list containing hidden gems?

    We headed over to Product Hunt, Reddit Discussions and Forums to curate a list of Must-Have WordPress Plugins in 2017and indeed our efforts didn’t go futile.

    Ready to take your site/blog to another level. So, here you go.. (Disclaimer: The list contains both free and premium WordPress Plugins. We are not posting this for click-bait but to bring the best plugins to our readers.)

    There’s a bonus ( a resource which is going to help you make kick-ass WordPress Plugins in 2017) in the end for those of you who have the patience to simmer through the list.

    1. Swifty Bar

    Offer your visitors an amazing experience with this plugin, which adds a sticky bar to the bottom of your posts. You can show your visitors the post title, category, share buttons etc, including links to next/previous post links. A super-light plugin that works phenomenally across desktop and mobile screen.

    Swifty Bar Download

    2. Outstanding Bar

    The plugin integrates with Mailchimp to let you collect email addresses in a non-annoying manner.

    Outstanding Bar Download

    3. Advanced Menu Manager

    The plugin has been designed to help you manage the menus of content heavy websites and blogs wherein pages run into hundreds and thousands. a tailored UI that offers a complete view of  menu, the parent pages and their child (sub-items). Advanced Menu Manager has that user-interface. Besides offering a complete picture of your menu, the clutter-free UI also allows you to view, add, edit and manage your pages and posts to make your job easier. Available as free and pro version.

    Advanced Menu Manager Download

    Advanced Menu Manager

    Simplified drag-and-drop features for an effortless menu management experience.

    14-day, no-questions-asked money-back guarantee.

    Advance Menu Manager For WordPress Banner

    4. Give WP

    For those of you who run a WordPress-based non-profit website/blog, this plugin makes accepting donations a seamless experience. No more taking your visitors to a third-party website for making payments.

    Give WP Download

    5. Add This Share Button

    Get your content easily shared on the Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc. to boost engagement and conversions. You get to choose where to display these buttons, for instance, on category page, home page, or any other pages/posts.

    Addthis Download

    6. Quoty

    Share the highlighted text on your website/page using Quoty on platforms like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Google+. It automatically displays a nice pop-up menu on text selection.

    Quoty Download

    7. Vectr

    Create and customize vector graphics inside your WP dashboard with Vectr. Have the complete creative freedom to create/edit stunning graphics using lots of features and effects like hovering, inserting URLs etc. Create infographics, annotated images, image collages, banners etc.

    Vectr Download

    8. LinkTexting for WordPress

    A text-to-download service for your users to text themselves a download link for your mobile app. Installs in a matter of minutes.

    LinkTexting widget Download

    9. Easy Maps by Trippy

    Add maps to your WordPress blog. Have beautiful Google maps within your posts. The plugin instantly finds towns, restaurants, attraction, hotels and more because it’s connected with Trippy.com. The best thing is that you get your post listed on Trippy.com as a resource, leading to more traffic.

    Easy Maps Download

    10. Revive Old Post

    Keep your old posts alive by automatically sharing them and driving more traffic to them from social platforms. Promote content, set sharing interval and set number of posts to share to boost traffic.

    Revive Old Post Download

    11. Inbound Rocket

    Convert your visitors into subscribers, customers, and leads. Let your visitors share your content easily. It has been built on the premise of content marketing to help you grow your audience. Track, know visitor behavior and get real-time alerts when a visitor fills a form on your website.

    Inbound Rocket Download

    12. CSS Hero

    Has a point and click interface to let you customize themes and plugins within minutes. Have complete control on the look of every element of your WP theme with this tiny plugin.

    CSS Hero Download

    13. WP Core

    If you regularly build WP websites for a set of clients, WP Core should be there in your kitty. The plugin will allow you to install multiple plugins with a single click.

    WP Core Download

    14. TK Checker

    TK Checker is a productivity tool for writers, helping you to avoid writer’s block and making it easy to insert missing info & get your drafts ready to publish. Comes for $6.

    Buy TK Checker

    15. WP Forms

    A drag and drop form builder for WordPress. Completely mobile friendly, comes with tons of form templates with smart conditional logic. A must-have plugin for WordPress Developers who regularly have to build form-rich sites for clients.

    Buy WP Forms

    16. Search WP

    Want to improve your site’s search and don’t want to spend time writing codes? Go for SearchWP which has been built to redefine how search works within a WP site. A god-sent plugin for WP Developers. This works wonders, especially, if you are building a WooCommerce based online store wherein product search has to be nothing short of perfect.

    Buy Search WP

    17. Aesop Story Engine

    Present your stories and articles in a beautiful format using this plugin which has been packed with 13 powerful components like audio/video, content, chapters, character, quote, collections, timeline etc.

    ALSO READ:  WordPress in 2017: Gazing Through the Crystal Ball

    Download Asesop Story Engine

    18. KingSumo

    Growing your email list is essential today and giveaways are the best way to grow it. With KingSumo giveaways, you can grow your list like a pro. Just takes 60 seconds to setup your giveaway.

    Buy KingSumo

    19. SecuPress

    WordPress is highly prone to hacking attacks since its one of the most popular open source software. Every hour countless websites are hacked. You wouldn’t want that to happen to your site. Available in free and pro versions, SecuPress is the security your WP site needs.

    Download/Buy

    20. WP Rocket

    Skyrocket your site’s speed with WP Rocket — the most powerful caching plugin for WordPress. Right from google fonts optimization to database optimization, it does it all!

    Buy WP Rocket

    21. StarBox

    The Author Box Plugin you have been looking for. Lots of themes to choose from, support for HTML5, Facebook & Google Authorship and social media profiles. Let your visitors see authors various posts to improve traffic and engagement.

    Download/Buy StartBox

    22. LifterLMS

    Sell your online course within your WP site with this free and open source LMS plugin. Has paid options too. Build your course, setup quizzes, accept payments, reward learners with certificates, and integrate membership based functionalities with complete ease.

    Download/Buy LifterLMS

    23. Contact Form 7 Customizer

    Design contact forms via WordPress Live Customizer. Edit color, text, background, adjust padding, margins and border right from the front-end.

    Download CS7 Customizer

    24. Imsanity

    Resize images automatically with Imsanity. Works best for blogs which do not require high resolution images. The bulk size feature lets you selectively resize images as per your needs. You can resize PNG, GIF, and JPG.

    Download Imsanity

    25. The SEO Framework

    One of the best SEO plugins out there for beginners. It even offers advanced SEO options for which you will require a free extension — Extension Manager. Automatically search engine optimize every page, post, taxonomy, has support for custom post types for bbPress and WooCommerce. It is an unbranded plugin meaning you won’t see their logo in your dashboard.
    Also, offers a paid option.

    Download/Buy Seo Framwork

    26. Auto Menu from Pages

    Lets you setup a navigation menu which falls in line with your page hierarchy. All you need to do is click on the Sync Auto Menu link in the admin bar. Next, it updates your auto menu and reflects any changes you have made to the pages.

    Download Auto Menu

    27. Publish to WordPress

    Not exactly a plugin but a Chrome Extension that lets you publish content on your WordPress blog/site right from Google Docs.

    Download Publish to WordPress

    28. Algolia Search Plugin

    Make it easier for your users to find the best content on your site. Install it without writing code.

    Download Algolia Search Plugin

    29. Change Log Theme

    There are instances when you don’t find a need to install a new WordPress instance only for the changelog section because you already have a WordPress based website/blog. Use this responsive theme/plugin to have a changelog section only for posts from a certain category.

    Buy Change Log Theme

    30. Sidekick Pro

    Equipped with 280+ walkthroughs, Sidekick Pro is for those who take customer experience very seriously and want to deliver an out-of-the-box experience around curated content. Compatible with all web browsers, Sidekick also offers analytics to give you deep customer insights.

    Buy Sidekick Pro

    31. CoSchedule

    Get the social media calendar for your WordPress site with Co-schedule. Works seamlessly with Buffer too. The best tool for your social media marketing manager.

    Buy CoSchedule

    32. Wordable

    Transfer your blog post from Google Docs to your WP site/blog with one click. You can even export post to multiple websites. Comes free for solo bloggers to be used with one site. For those who want for multiple sites, you need a $19/month subscription.

    Download Wordable

    33. WP Slack Sync

    Integrate Slack within WordPress. Synchronize your Slack chats and channels within seconds.

    Buy WP Slack Sync

    34. WP Dispensary

    Finally, a marijuana dispensary menu plugin for WordPress is here — completely open source. Easily add and edit your menu dispensary content, have complete control over your menu content etc. Your patients can easily see menu items based on the type of effects they have, as well as what flowers are good for specific symptoms. They can even find menu items based on flavor, aroma and specific conditions.

    Download WP Dispensary

    35. Revisr

    Manage and deploy your websites, themes, plugins etc. using Git. It’s the perfect Git Management tool for WordPress. It automatically detects changes in files using Git. Absolutely simple to use.

    Download Revisr

    36. Better Error Pages

    Create 404, 505-level and maintenance pages within seconds. Brought to you by the folks at StatusPage , the plugin allows you to build customized pages as per your brand’s needs.

    Download Better Error Pages

    37. Better Internal Link Search

    Improve the default internal link searching feature making it faster and easier to find the content you want to link up. You can instantly see search results for pages, posts, media items or other custom post types on their Manage Posts screens.

    Download Berrer Internal Link Search

    Advanced Menu Manager

    Simplified drag-and-drop features for an effortless menu management experience.

    14-day, no-questions-asked money-back guarantee.

    Advance Menu Manager For WordPress Banner
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    Nimesh Patel

    Nimesh Patel is the Product Manager and Growth Hacker at Dotstore. For the past 10 years, Nimesh has been a prolific marketer and product builder in the WordPress and e-commerce industry.

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    Written by Nimesh Patel

    I am a Product Marketer and Growth hacker with expertise in Digital marketing, Search engine optimization (SEO), Email Marketing, Paid Campaigns on Facebook and Twitter, Content development strategies, and Competitive Research & Analysis. Nimesh is Product Manager at theDotstore.com