Plugins are an integral component of Wordpress. I knew that this was going to be a huge part of this project and finding the right ones would make or break the site. This again makes my choice in theme all the more important. It came bundled with some really exciting and useful plugins. These are the plugins that came packaged with the Shore theme:
Essential Grid
This plugin allows for the easy creation and customisation of grids. You can add images into grid arrays and have them look and respond as you see fit. It also allows for an extensive array of elements to be placed into the frame of each grid. For example a magnifying glass to enlarge the image or a "Add to Cart" button.
Revolution Slider
This plugin is fairly self explanatory. It is a slider plugin that allows for the creation and customisation of sliders. They can be displayed as beautiful full-screen elements within the page and also have text and other elements layered atop them.
Contact Form 7
This is a really simple contact form builder that looks really simple and modern. It is a great plugin and really took all of the hassle out of what could have been a horrendous task.
The Extended Visual Composer Sutie
Source: http://vc.wpbakery.com
This I have already covered but I can't overstate it's value for me in this project.
WooCommerce
Lastly is probably the most important plugin that came bundled with my chosen theme; WooCommerce. This is a plugin that allows for the creation of a shop. You can design and sell products and control every last element with exacting standards and efficiency. It is a lifesaver and having it bundled with the theme meant that it came with some custom layouts and styles that are otherwise impossible to achieve. This is an awesome added touch.
So these are all the plugins that came bundled with the Shore theme. They ticked a lot of the boxes I needed to tick for this brief however, there were still some holes that needed filling. To do so I took to Wordpress' plugin section and set about searching for some plugins.
BuddyPress
BuddyPress is a plugin that allows for custom users to Log In and Register. This is something required by the brief and this is an easy solution to the problem. It only takes a few clicks to set up and then as if by magic it is done. This seems like the best balance of function to ease of use that I can find and so this is my login plugin.
Duplicate Post
This is nothing to do with the brief this is just a nice time-saver plugin. I encountered many times where I had much the same content on a few pages I perhaps just needed to change an image or block of text. To do so I would have to have started a new page from scratch which seemed silly. There had to be a better way and so I did a search and found this plugin. It adds a duplicate button to Wordpress allowing you to duplicate a page exactly then rename it and edit whatever you want without touching the original. It is a HUGE timesaver.
The Events Calendar
The brief requires a calendar with sections and tags. I felt it was kind of redundant on a three day event but this project is more about showing your capability to build a functioning event site as pose to focusing on the content and structure of the event itself. So this is the plugin I am using to create my calendar. It is simple to use yet packed to the brim with cool features.
Wordpress SEO (Yoast)
I have already mentioned this plugin before so I won't go into too much detail but this is what I am using to manage the SEO across my site.
So there we go. All the plugins I am using. I think with all of these I can comfortably cover all the bases I need to cover and I also have a few more for flair and for personalisation. I will mention any other plugins I might find and use in later posts but I think that I have everything I need right here.
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