40+ Most Wanted Wordpress Tricks and Hacks

wordpress tricks hacks

Have you ever came across a Wordpress blog, saw something you liked, and questions like ‘how they did that‘, ‘is that a plugin or hack?‘, ‘where can I get those cool mods‘ begin to pop? Well, it’s really pretty normal because most of us did the same thing. For this article we’ve spent time with some 14 Wordpress bloggers, finding out what kinda hacks and plugins they are really looking for to enhance their blog in any aspect. Here’s our outcome, 40+ most wanted Wordpress tips and hacks, including those you don’t even knew the keywords to search for.

While you are at it, here’s few more Wordpress related articles we’ve previously written:

Display categories in horizontal Drop-Down menu

Instead of using your categories in sidebar, you can put them up on the navigation bar, dropping down the sub categories in second-level drop down.
Add Gravatar for post author

How about adding Gravatar to your post titles to highlight the comment author?
Using custom page as homepage

Instead of showing recent entries as main page on your blog, customize it!
Add author bio on every blog post

For multi-authored blogs, adding the bio info of each author at the bottom of their respective posts is a good way to give props to the author as well as providing information to the readers as to who that person is without having to refer to an about me page.
Display recent post from specific category

Control recent post of any categories you want to display.
Highlight author’s comments

This helps differenciate the author’s comments away from the rest. Useful for commentators to spot which are comments made by the author.
Create thumbnails for each blog post and displays them

How to create thumbnails for each blog post, use them anywhere you want, make your post more interesting.
Create and show categories image

How to add some simple PHP code to your Wordpress template and make linked images appear instead of text for your categories in posts.
Format images for feed readers

Get your blog content to display properly, even in feeds.
Create really cool Wordpress date button

Display your blot post’s date in the form of button.
Hiding Advertisements For Single Posts

Quick and easy way to hide advertisements for any particular post by making some minor changes to your theme.
Creating a dynamic sticky

There are some news you just want them to stay on top.
Customize Error 404 page

Create a new Error 404 page of your own.
Protect CSS Mods for ANY WordPress Theme

Implementing a custom stylesheet that simply overrides the styles defined in the theme’s original stylesheet
Make your blog Digg proof

Tweaks and settings to add to your blog to take the Digg effect.
Using Wordpress as Membership Directory

Create a moderated membership directory that showcases your member’s information.
4 Ways to speed up your wordpress blog

Some quick tips on how to speed up your self-hosted WordPress site.
Create mobile version of your blog

Create a mobile version of the website within clicks with Mofuse.
Open links in new windows (by default)

Title’s pretty self-explainatory, make all links open in new window.
Turn Wordpress blog into CMS (Content Management System)

Your Wordpress blog don’t have to look like a typical blog display. It can be something more fun.
WordPress Thumbnail Size Limit Hack

Don’t like the default thumbnail JPEG quality? Change it.
Automatically post Del.icio.us daily link to Wordpress

Get more daily post on blog, from del.icio.us
Create a peel away effect on blog

Very effective way to market products and bring more attention to pages you want visitors to focus.
Seperate Comments from Trackbacks/Pingbacks

Get a clear view on what are comments, what’s not.
Blog Alone or Together with Writely

Writely is one of my favorte Web 2.0 apps. It’s a full-fledged web-based word processor that you can access from anywhere. Think of it as Microsoft Word for the Web.
Embed Google Ad in first wordpress post

The leading SEO (Search Engine Optimization) sites will tell you that placing an ad after the first post in your blog’s home page is particularly effective.
Creating multiple single posts for different categories

Fast and simple way to assign a specific stylesheet for only one category of blog posts in a WordPress blog.
Using WordPress Custom Fields

You can do pretty much anything you want with custom fields. Your imagination is your limit.
Creating an Archive Index

Create single page with links to all your archived entries, arranged just so to form the main gateway into your blog’s past.
Wicked WordPress Archives in One Easy Step

Provide specialized archive views that place a premium on scannability.
Place a login form in the sidebar

Put a login on the front page of your Wordpress blog.
Protect Wordpress post against hot-linking

Plugin for Wordpress that helps prevent image hotlinking as easy as installing and activating it.
Moving a Static HTML Site to WordPress

how you retain the old URLs after moving static HTML to Wordpress.
Build a Techmeme River of News Clone

Building something similar to Techmeme with Wordpress.
Custom login page

This is more significant for multi author blogs, or sites you have set up for clients.
How to Put Your Best Content Forward

Don’t let your best content get lost in the archives.
Display Twitter messages in Wordpress

Customize the Twitter message display on your Wordpress blog.
Add Stripe Ad to boost response / earnings

A new non-obtrusive way of displaying a single line of advertising message, a special note or other information right at the top of your blog
How to Display Facebook Statuses on Wordpress Blog

Put your Facebook statuses directly on your wordpress blog. Works for both self-host Wordpress and Wordpress.com bloggers.
Post text and image count

Counts and display number of words and images (leaving the default Wordpress smilies out)
Place content only in RSS Feed

Ever wonder how some bloggers control some content to be shown only in RSS feed but not the blog. Here’s the plugin to do that - RSS Footer.

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Comments

Kay June 15th, 2008

This is awesome and very helpful~~
ahbing June 15th, 2008

PERFECT! I was configuring my wordpress whole afternoon. Came to hongkiat.com and try to look for more info. But couldn’t find any.

Few hours later, you published this entry. You’re my saviour, HK :D
Fachia June 15th, 2008

very nice compilation. I’ve found something I’d never know before. Thanks..
Ramy June 15th, 2008

You are the best, HK. This is awesome! Thx.
Syahid A. June 15th, 2008

An awesome collection list of WP hacks HK. Dugg!
Ashfame June 15th, 2008

Thanks for the resource list. Stumbled!
I was pointed to your blog by Ashish Mohta of Technospot.net
You got a good design here. I love your sleek sidebars.
KNizam June 15th, 2008

cool thanks ya :)
Pachecus June 15th, 2008

Awesome list and very helpful.. thanks!!
nigelmcloughlin June 16th, 2008

thanks alot for the list
Keith Dsouza June 16th, 2008

Awesome list buddy quite useful really, I have bookmarked it so that I can come back to it at a later point.

stumbled and Dugg :)
Sandip June 16th, 2008

Best of best Hacks and Tricks List For Wordpress.Thanks alot for sharing this.most of the Tricks i didnt know.
Marvin June 16th, 2008

First i’m sorry, then i have been remove all content from you blog:)
Kitkat June 16th, 2008

Wow, good collection of WP tricks and hacks! Thanks.
TravellerKit.Com June 16th, 2008

Wow, great post….thanks a lot HK….it’s perfect tricks…..
Hamid June 16th, 2008

wery wery thanks :)
syuxx June 16th, 2008

ohmy, this is really really useful!
thanks HK!
Johnson June 16th, 2008

really helpful list…
hongkiat June 16th, 2008

Thanks, I’m glad you guys find it useful :-) If you have anything I’ve missed, appreciate a heads up. Keep the comments coming.
calmhuang June 16th, 2008

thanks, Fav it now
IOSIS June 17th, 2008

Thanks, this will come in handy as I am redesigning my blog.
PChere June 17th, 2008

Lot of amazing tricks here. I think this is a great collection. Must read.
Myo Kyaw Htun June 17th, 2008

Great list! Stumbled!
solar June 17th, 2008

this is really useful.Thanks!
Mike June 18th, 2008

Great list.. Thanks
Fenton June 18th, 2008

Saves me time to research and hang around, waiting the necessary things to be found. Worst, not sue what are the best WP addons could offer?
Brandon June 18th, 2008

Great list; thank you.
Friend June 18th, 2008

Wow, what a great listing. I’ll try some tricks to my Wordpress blog :)
Sangesh June 18th, 2008

Wow, this is an awesome list. Just impressive.

and congrats on making on top of del.icio.us

ur just rocks
VR June 18th, 2008

NIce. this is great stuff!
John Joubert June 18th, 2008

Very nice post! Was wondering about a couple of those plugins and where to get them! Very well done :)
Carlos Leopoldo June 19th, 2008

Nice list! very useful, I was looking for the “Create thumbnails for each blog post and displays them”

Thanks
Gautam June 19th, 2008

This is awesome!!! I’ll try some of these out. More ways for us troubadours to spread our music across :)

Thank you!!
Posicionamiento web June 19th, 2008

Best list of plugins ever
xiaomo June 19th, 2008

Thank you！！！！
Caleb June 20th, 2008

What a great list of hacks and plugins! Thank you so much for spending the time to put this together.
Okizoo June 21st, 2008

Great list of Wordpress Hacks. Didn’t see anything about Permalinks, SEO, or Multiple Social Bookmarking. However, on your blog you incorporate these points.
batushaq June 21st, 2008

thanx guy
Tony June 21st, 2008

Thanks for bringing all this tips together into one place. I have spent hours searching for some of them. Cheers.
Multimediedesigner June 22nd, 2008

Very nice list Honkiat. Thank you for sharring :D
Renato Tavares June 22nd, 2008

otima dica aprendi muito aqui
Pavan Kumar June 22nd, 2008

That’s a great list… stumbled….
HectorMata June 22nd, 2008

Oh¡¡ Thanks, I’m going to translate it in to Spanish to my blog.

Thanks.
Bye
wolkanca June 23rd, 2008

thanks alot for the list. Very nice list .
blacksnoopy June 25th, 2008

Awesome
Thank you
GusanoDeRed June 25th, 2008

Sólo para ver cómo funciona mi gravatar.
GusanoDeRed June 25th, 2008

Nice tips!
webmaster blog June 27th, 2008

very nice. thanks ;)
Movie Goers June 27th, 2008

WOOW, Thanks for sharing this hack tips
jocuri June 28th, 2008

Very interesting information! Thanks for your work ..
kerepek June 28th, 2008

yeah. wordpress is great. One problem is everytime wordpress major update say 2.5 -> 2.6 some plugin not work.
jack petersen June 29th, 2008

Writing a will is one of the most important things you will ever do. My advise is that you see a solicitor who will be able to help answer any questions you may have.
Dude World Order June 29th, 2008

Hey, this is a great list.
Im going to use some of these right now
THANKS!
Htoo Tay Zar June 30th, 2008

Oh Great List I ever seen!! thanks a lot HK for this post and I’ll wait to read more about WP.
Micha July 1st, 2008

This is a great collection and really helpful!
David Hobson July 3rd, 2008

Absolutly fantastic post thanks.
diseño web July 5th, 2008

Thanks for this post, fantastic work :D
Diseño Web Peru July 8th, 2008

Bookmarked! Thanks for sharing this great tip compilation
ilahi July 17th, 2008

thanks for it :)
frank34f July 24th, 2008

te recomiendo esta pagina.
http://www.manicho.com/index.php/2008/07/24/trucos-para-wordpress-26-y-que-hacer-despues-de-instalarlo/
vince July 28th, 2008

very helpful! great!
Tom Schavo July 30th, 2008

Thanks for this great help.
al July 31st, 2008

Great Tips for the blog
gypemoke August 3rd, 2008

Thank you
iamme August 9th, 2008

I tried using a few free plugins, but I kept having problems. Its not that I am not technically savvy, I know a lot about networking and software, I just do not know anything about php. And this was my problem. Whenever the plugin I was using developed a problem I had to rely on the person or people who released it to help. As it was a free plugin that left me with users ready to signup, no working membership site and waiting for free support for a free plugin.

I looked everywhere for a wordpress membership plugin that would take subscriptions via paypal and would allow me to charge on a subscription basis for each access level I wanted to set up. Eventually I have up and bought one. It was only €19.99 for a whole year and that included support. It is called wp-member and I have found it really easy and straight forward to use. I contacted their support when I had a quick question and found that they have online support! I can not shout about this membership / payment plugin enough.
Maigret August 13th, 2008

Great list ! I’ll try most of those differents points for my blog. Thx so much !
Arjen August 17th, 2008

Great list with very useful tricks.. I’ll apply some of them to my weblog. It will probably be a big improvement.

Thanks!
Ernan August 22nd, 2008

Just a list that I need to organize my wordpress blog. Thanks a lot.
David August 26th, 2008

This is a great post - thank you!

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