Trade Secrets: WordPress is Wonderful

I could have easily called this column “I would be a goner without:” or “Things that rival my skills in Amazing:”. From tech-y tips to the location of the best coffee mugs – these are elements of my life that deserve recognition. & Usually they’re very cute and affordable and neat, which is a bonus for you.

Today, I am thankful for WordPress plugins. I know. Were you maybe hoping for something more exciting? Well, I’ll tell you, the world of WordPress plugins is a wild & crazy one, boy oh boy. That is a lie. Regardless, the three listed here have saved my butt this year (and it’s only January!).

Dashboard Stats

Since I started blogging, I’ve used WP-Stats as an add-on to measure my traffic. It was my tried & true for three years before I stumbled upon Dashboard Stats which is like taking our precious WP-Stats and giving it catnip & a ball of yarn (well, maybe more like 30 balls of yarn). Translation? It’s a work horse (& it’s pretty cute, too).

All the accounts you can track! Click to enlarge.

There are some much better screenshots on the WordPress Extend site, but the gist of it is this: not only can this thing pull your stats from WP-Stats, but it’ll also track how many Twitter followers you have, what your feed circulation is (FeedBurner, specifically) – basically, if you want to keep tabs on you or your brand throughout social media, Dashboard Stats will make you a very happy blogger.

NOTE: You need to have WP-Stats installed, as well, for the website-statistics portion of the plugin to work.

Check out this killer stats display:

Click to big!

How can you say no?

Get Dashboard Stats free, here.