WordPress plugins allow you to extend the functionality on your blog. There are literally hundreds of plugins you can choose from. However, in this article we are going to look at the default plugins, what they can do for you and why you should take advantage of them.

The WordPress core is lean and it allows you to maximize your flexibility. Plugins allow you tailor your blog to your needs. You can install as many plugins as you like, but it’s a good idea to only install those that you need, as it will cause your blog to load and run slower. There are plugins that are considered official as they are provided by WordPress, and there are third party plugins.

Two core plugins that already installed when you create your blog are Akismet and Hello Dolly. Let’s have a look at these two core plugins.

Akismet

Spam is a huge problem on the internet and it’s the biggest problem that webmasters and bloggers will face. It can wreak havoc on the visitors experience and with spammers becoming more creative and smarter, the only chance you have is use WordPress plugins that can combat spam. That’s what Akismet does. Akismet is relatively easy to use. Since it comes preinstalled, all you have to do is activate it on your plugin page.

Akismet is simply an easy script that works as a filter to prevent spam from showing on your blog and that includes spam comments called spomment, which have become a huge nuisance. Spomment is spam comments that wreaks havoc on the servers often causing an overload, and worse has visitors to your blog hitting the back button because the real messages are lost amongst the spam. So you can see why Akismet is such an important tool.

Hello Dolly

This is not just any WordPress plug. Hello Dolly once activated will put a random lyric in the upper right corner of your admin screen on each of the pages. Okay, we admit, this is a plugin that really doesn’t have a purpose, which is exactly why we are mentioning it. While it has been a time-honored tradition that dates back to the inception of WordPress, it has no real purpose, so you may just want to uninstall it. That is unless you find it entertaining to see lyrics from Hello Dolly randomly appearing.

Since there are so many WordPress plugins, it is a good idea to familiarize yourself with these plugins so that you can choose plugins that can benefit your blog the most.