Must-have plugins for WordPress site in 2022 – part I

Category 1: Security, backup, and spam protection.

1. Jetpack – WP Security, Backup, Speed, & Growth

Jetpack, made by leading WordPress developer Automattic, is one of those popular all-in-one solutions, which are the first candidates on installation after the new website is created. And it currently has over 5 million active installations, which means it’s good enough for most people. There are more advanced solutions for most of its features, and many of them are even free, but Jetpack combines a lot of vital functions under one roof with a unified interface, and it does its job well, so it should definitely be considered by beginner artists. Here is just several of its core modules:

• manual and automatic backup and restore of your site;
• anti-spam functions;
• manual and automatic malware and security scans;
• WordPress login page protection;
• site uptime/downtime monitoring;
• optional two-factor authentication;
• “lazy loading” of contents;
• custom site search;
• auto-publishing to social media;
• SEO tools for Google, Facebook, Twitter, Bing, and WordPress.com;
• advanced design tools;
• activity log for every site change and more.

2. iThemes Security.

iThemes Security is developed by the firm with the same name and currently has more than 1 million installations. It is one of the above-mentioned “better than Jetpack” solutions in the area of security, which needs the installation of a separate and rather heavy plugin to your WordPress site, though. But hacking sites is the real problem, and even if you don’t think your website is interesting to hackers, it still is. They use automated tools that allow them to steal passwords and other sensitive information from unsecured sites, so using advanced security plugins like iThemes Security is a must-have anyway. It promises that you’ll be able to reliably secure your WordPress site in less than 10 minutes “without needing a degree in cybersecurity” and grants all the necessary tools, like:

• real-time security dashboard;
• Two-Factor Authentication;
• support of reCAPTCHA;
• support of Trusted Devices;
• security levels for different user types;
• templates for 6 site types and much more.

3. Akismet Spam Protection.

Akismet is developed by Automattic, the same company which made Jetpack, and the spam protection in Jetpack is actually based on it. But it itself has the same 5+ million of active installations, and for a reason. While other functions of Jetpack are OK, Akismet, which is free for personal blogs, is considered as world leading anti-spam tool for WordPress, which has several sophisticated tools to protect your site at all levels:

• collects a global database of spam;
• detects and automatically blocks spam in all types of comments and contact forms;
• creates a status history for each comment;
• counts approved and blocked comments for each user and more.

4. UpdraftPlus WordPress Backup Plugin.

UpdraftPlus, made by UpdraftPlus.com and David Anderson, is the best and most popular WordPress plugin for scheduled backup with over 3 million of active installations. It allows manual and automatic backup of databases and any files, including the whole websites, and provides all kinds of tools for these tasks. And, its free version supports not only local but also cloud backups directly to Dropbox, Google Drive, and several other popular file hosting services, as well as email and FTP backups. The paid version just adds some nice, but non-vital options, plus the support of a larger number of storage destinations. UpdraftPlus provides the following features:

• has built-in restoration functionality;
• compatible with the greatest number of backup destinations among other plugins;
• supports scheduled backups;
• uses a low amount of server resources and more.

Again, UpdraftPlus duplicates some functions of Jetpack, but does it even better. And, this simple yet functional plugin may save you hundreds of hours of work someday, so it is better to have and use it.

So, we are done with the first category of plugins. In the next article, which is on its way, we’ll consider another 2 categories, SEO and cache plugins, and quality of life plugins, plus the most popular eCommerce solution for WordPress.