We’re back for another edition of Molly’s Blogging Tools & Essentials.

I apologize to those of you who read this here blog who aren’t bloggers as this post won’t be as fun for y’all. But don’t worry, I’ll be back tomorrow with your regularly scheduled whatnot.

I also have to apologize to those of you who read this here blog who aren’t on a self-hosted WordPress blog… because this won’t be very helpful for you, either.

BUT, if you are on a self-hosted WordPress.org blog OR you are considering moving to a self-hosted WordPress blog, then this post WILL (hopefully) be very helpful! 🙂

So, if you’re using a self-hosted WordPress.org blog, you know by now about plugins. There are THOUSANDS of plugins out there – I’m still trying to figure out which ones are worth a lick and which ones aren’t.

I have over 30 plugins (too much? probably…) installed on the back end of this here blog. But, there are three that are my absolute MUST HAVES for making my blogging life just a little quicker and easier.

1. Faster Image Insert

This plugin is the JAM if you like to have a lot of images in your blog posts. So, fashion bloggers, photographers, art bloggers, food bloggers, DIY bloggers…. really any blogger that likes to have multiple photos in their blog posts can benefit from this plugin.

Basically, it’s a plugin that allows you to batch upload the images you want in your post, you can batch rename them, and then BATCH INSERT THEM!! No more inserting images one by one!!

I save SERIOUSLY so much time doing my blog posts by using this plugin. It’s SUPER easy to use.

2. Comment Luv

This plugin isn’t really about making MY life easier, but really more the lives of my readers / commenters / fellow blogger’s lives easier.

Comment Luv is basically a plugin that allows someone who is commenting on the blog to include a link to their blog or a previous post along with the comment. When the commenter types in their blog URL in the field, the plugin pulls from the blog’s RSS feed the most recent posts. The commenter can then choose a post they want to appear.

This is GREAT for both YOUR SEO (search engine optimization) and the SEO of your commenter. It also is like a fellow back scratch and a little boost for your commenter’s blog. It shows up as “X recently posted…” etc. etc.

Seriously! It’s a GREAT plugin and commenters who have blogs LOVE it! So, show some love to those faithful commenters by using this plugin.

 3. Comment Reply Notification

So, for the first three or four years I was blogging, I would reply to my reader’s and commenter’s comments on the backend of my blog and I realized that unless the commenter / reader came back to my blog to check to see if I replied, they would never ACTUALLY see the reply.

I would take the time to reply to their comment via email AND on the blog so that people could see my reply… and that was taking up SO MUCH TIME.

Enter comment reply notification. This plugin allows you (or anyone) to reply to someone’s comment and they get notified in their email with your reply! That way, they can see that you actually replied to their comment.

SUPER helpful! Why? Well, not only does their comment get feedback, but it also encourages more discussion! More discussion = more comments = more feedback = more views = more readers, etc. etc. etc.

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So, those are just a few of the plugins that I absolutely LURVE. Any other WordPress.org bloggers out there? What plugins do you love? I’d love to know your favorites!