Dave Caolo

Several months ago, I listed the plug-ins I add to every WordPress installation. This post is an update to that list. Here are my standard WordPress plug-ins.

1. Akismit eliminates comment spam and trackback spam effectively. You’ll need a Wordpress.com API key to enable it. I occasionally see something sneak through, but those occurrences are the exception, not the rule. Akismit is the first plug-in I set up.
2. Thank Me Later sends first-time commenters a single email thanking them for their participation. Customize the time delay between receipt of the comment and deployment of the email, the body of the message itself and more. It’s not essential, but a nice touch.
3. WordPress.com stats provides real-time statistics in your dashboard. Again, you’ll need a Wordpress.com API key to enable this one.
4. WordPress Database Backps does just what the name implies — creates a backup for your blog’s (or WP-powered site’s) database files. For some real fun, check out my super-simple instructions for setting up automated, off-site backups.
5. Share This lets visitors share your articles with their favorite social sites without having to leave your blog.
6. All in One SEO Pack certainly isn’t a replacement for SEO best practices (see “WordPress and SEO“), but it makes certain aspects easy.
7. Subscribe to comments allows readers to receive email notifications of responses to posts they’ve commented on. It fosters conversation and gives readers following the thread a reason to return.
8. Related posts scours your tags each time you publish a post to find older entries that are a match. Those are listed just above the comment box. This gives readers a reason to dig into your archives.

So there you have it, my basic WordPress starting point. What’s yours?

The first little person I ever met tried to sell me a T-shirt in Boston.

Having pushed passed the New England Conservatory students, noisy pizza joints and a one-armed pimp in a Members Only jacket (I assume he was the last member), I stood before 98 Hemenway Street. That beaten-down building, which would close a year later, was my freshman dorm at Berklee. John stood on the stoop. “What to buy a T-Shirt?” he said. It had obviously been silkscreened by hand. “Um, yeah,” I said.

I spent my first night alone, wearing my new shirt and watching David Letterman on a 13″ black-and-white TV. Actually, I only looked at the television. My mind was replaying the moment that I said goodbye to my parents at the Newbury Street Garage.

That was an astounding 20 years ago. Today I live on Cape Cod but my heart is in Boston. Whenever I visit, I take what my wife calls “The Nostalgia Tour.” We eat at Cappy’s, buy an iced tea from DeLuca’s (the only thing I could afford from that place in 1989), walk through The Fens and take the Green Line to Park Street.

We also visit the former site of Allson Beat on Newbury Street, in honor of John. He was what we used to call a “club kid” who lived the lifestyle 24/7. So we called him John Non-Stop. I think he lives in California today.

On Monday I’ll travel to Cambridge to talk about blogging. Though I was born and raised in Scranton, PA, visiting Boston always feels like a homecoming.

And I still have the T-shirt.

Over at TUAW, I’ve described how I’ve set up an older G5 iMac to use for writing projects.