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Lately I’ve found some really helpful Wordpress plugins, so I thought I would post some of the ones I use (or have used) on some of my sites, in case you’re due for an “I could use that!” moment.

Blog Metrics - gives some interesting stats and measures “success” of your blog, based on comments.  I’m still new to this one, but so far it looks pretty cool.

Dean’s Permalinks Migration - I used to have this blog on an IIS server, which required that all my permalinks had “/index.php/” in them.  When I moved to Apache, I was able to start using nicer permalinks.  This plugin does a permanent redirect from the old structure to the new one so that users can find you and so that search engines don’t lose you.

Google Analytics - For the stats addicts out there, this puts your Google Analytics script code on every page.  Works flawlessly.  Oh, and it is smart enough to not include the code if you’re the blog admin and are logged in.

Google XML Sitemaps - Generates and keeps current XML sitemaps for your posts and pages.  If you don’t know what sitemaps are, you probably don’t need this plugin.

iWPhone - Very cool plugin.  You activate it and install a non-active theme, and it formats your WordPress site nicely for an iPhone user.  Because you know you want to read my blog while you wait in line at Wal-Mart.  To see it in action, visit my site with an iPhone.

Ozh’ Better Feed - I’m still testing this one, but so far it looks pretty cool.  It lets you add anything you want to the bottom of your posts in the RSS feed.  This is for those RSS fans that follow you.  Include copyright info, links to comments, a ShareThis link, etc. that will show up in their readers.

ShareThis - This is the best plugin I’ve come across in a while.  Alex at Crowd Favorite is behind this one, and it’s absolutely brilliant.  It lets users easily add your post to social bookmark sites.  See the “ShareThis” link below to see it in action.

Spam Karma 2 - It’s got its quirks, but it’s a great anti-spam comment filter.

Static Front Page - This plugin makes the blog home page be something other than the latest blog posts.  I’ve used it in places where I use WordPress more for content management than for blogging.  It works well and is a pretty cool idea.  The link I have for this one is gone…it appears that Opt-In Front Page has replaced this one (but I’ve not yet tried that plugin).

Subscribe Me - Makes it easy for your visitors to add your RSS feed to their readers.  See the nifty orange dropdown box in the upper left corner of my site.  You can make it a dropdown list or a list of the individual icons.  I prefer dropdown, but the other way works well, too.

What Would Seth Godin Do? - I love the name.  Basically it’s a way to treat new visitors and returning visitors differently by using cookies.  For example, on this blog new users are invited to subscribe to the RSS feed and returning users don’t see anything.  I could include a “welcome back” message, but I chose not to.

That’s my list of preferred plugins.  Which ones do you use?  I’m always looking for new cool things to do here.

Update: Ozh mentioned his Admin Drop Down Menu Plugin in the comments, and I wanted to make sure it got proper notice here.  Wow.  That one is very cool.  How did I live without it for so long?

I got nudged and pointed over to Jill Phillips’ web site today.  Everything’s new!  For a big fan like me, it’s a real treat.  And if you’re not a big fan like me, you should be.  Here’s some of what you can find on the new site:

• a blog she has promised to update
• a preorder deal for her new CD “The Good Things“
• a new music sampler from NoiseTrade.com
• updated tour dates (including this Sunday in Nashville!)

Seriously.  Go check her out.  She’s amazing.  Preorder a CD or 7.

And if you want to see her play on Sunday in Nashville, there’s (tentatively) still room in the Ronzilla carpool.

I’ve got a ton going on and not a whole lot of time to write about it, but I wanted to take just a moment here on Veteran’s Day and remember our friend Joshua Dingler.  Joshua gave the ultimate gift to his country in Iraq a little more than 3 years ago.

This photo is Joshua with my son, shortly before he left for Iraq.

It’s been a crazy week.  I was worn out for most of it, which is likely due to a post-2:00 a.m. bedtime on Election night.  (I was up late hoping for a final count on the Georgia Senate race.)  Anyway, there’s a lot going on, and since I’m pressed for time, here it is in bullet form:

• For the first time in my voting life, I voted for a non-Republican for a major office.  I would have voted for a Republican, but Ron Paul wasn’t running.
• I’m certainly no fan of Obama, but his acceptance speech Tuesday night was killer.
• Things at work have been out-of-the-ordinary the past couple of weeks.  Between vacations, funerals, business trips, people telecommuting, and more business trips, I haven’t seen some of my coworkers but a day or so out of the last 2 weeks.
• Speaking of funerals, I conjured up what is most likely the most awesome funeral plan ever.  I even drew it on my white board.  More on that (with photos) later.
• I cleaned the garage today.  It’ll be getting cold soon, and so I figured it was time to go ahead and be able to park in there.  I killed an army of spiders in the process.
• I am ready for baseball season.  Spring Training can’t come soon enough.
• I had a mini Arrested Development marathon last night.  That’s got to be one of the best shows ever on television.  Except it’s not on television anymore.
• Jill Phillips has a new CD (and a new web site) coming very soon.  Stay tuned for more on that.
• I’ve still got seats available to go see Randall Goodgame and friends next Sunday night.  Speak up if you want in on that fun.

I’ve been busy with some pretty heavy technical reading lately, so my wife agreed to read and review “Me, Myself, and I Am” for the blog.

Me, Myself & I Am is a workbook that through a series of  multiple choice and open-ended questions will help you build a time capsule of words about your life.  Some of the questions were light and fun, while some were very thought provoking questions about dreams, hopes, goals and your spiritual walk with God.

I think it is a good way to preserve some memories about what your life is like right now to be able to look back on or pass on to your children later.  If you are looking for a self-inventory this book would be a great one.  It captures a broad view of your life in general and really helps you take a look at where you are in life and where you want to go.

There’s a concert in Nashville on November 16 that you should be a part of.  Technically, it’s a Square Peg show.  I’m getting some conflicting information, but from what I can gather, these folks will be in the lineup:

• Andrew Peterson
• Eric Peters
• Jill Phillips
• Andy Gullahorn
• Andy Osenga
• Randall Goodgame

Sounds good enough, but there’s more.  Andrew Peterson’s site lists this as an Andy and the Andys show.  The best part, though, is that this show will feature Randall Goodgame with a full band.  (On top of that, the venue is a great one.)

So I’m thinking this might be a good chance for a carpool/caravan.  We can all park at my office (near I-75 in Acworth), ride together, and split the gas.  I can take 4 people with me, and if there’s more interest than that, we’ll find another driver.  I suspect we’d need to leave 3:30 or so from Acworth (maybe 3:00 if we can make that happen), and we’ll be back very late.

If this interests you and you are in the Atlanta area, drop me a note and we’ll figure out what we can do.  We can possibly pickup a Chattanoogan or two if you can get close to I-24.  Also, if you’re just some random stranger I’ve never met, don’t be offended, but I won’t want you to ride with us.

You won’t see Randall with a band very often, so don’t miss the chance.

Ok, here’s the deal with this post.  I agreed to read and review the newly-released book”How Would Jesus Vote?” here on the blog, and I can honestly say that it is probably one of the worst decisions I’ve made in the past few months.

The book is awful.  Simply awful.  I can’t stress to you how amazingly awful this book is.  Do not buy, read, or borrow this book.  I will likely use my copy for kindling in the fireplace this winter.

The authors use the book as a chance to push their agenda.  Scripture is used out of context; presumptions are made about what Jesus might think about today’s issues; they make the religious right look like a bunch of nut jobs.  It was just awful.

I honestly can’t use the word awful enough in this post.

My friend Chris, who was also one of the unfortunate ones who volunteered to read and review this awful book, did a much more in-depth review than I’m willing to do.  Honestly I just don’t want to spend that much time reviewing such an awful book.  You can read his great review (about the awful book) here.

You can go get it here if you still aren’t somehow deterred by this review.  (I only post that link because I agreed that I would.)  Don’t buy it.  It’s awful.  Just awful.

I saw this photo online a few days ago and found it wonderfully distubing, almost as fun as the Calvin & Hobbes snowmen.

I hope you have a great day dressing up, begging for candy, ignoring festivities, or preaching against evil today.  Whatever you do, enjoy it.

Idiot Phillies Fan #1: “Hey, we just won the World Series.  Let’s go destroy stuff!”
Idiot Phillies Fan #2: “Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!”

Idiots.

So baseball season is over.  Today begins the long, cold winter of the off season.  Spring training is 17 weeks away.

I don’t mind that the Phillies won.  I’m happy for my friends the Matticks - real Phillies fans - who have waited a very long time to celebrate something related to baseball. And I’m glad that Chase Utley gets a World Series ring.  I’ve followed his career pretty closely since back when he was in the minor leagues.  (He once threw me a baseball when we were at a Spring Training game in Tampa.)

I was pulling for the Rays in the series, and I think that might have been what brought them down.  Follow this:

• I pulled for the Yankees in the regular season.  They lost.
• I pulled for the Cubs in the NLDS.  They lost.
• I pulled for the Dodgers in the NLCS.  They lost.
• I pulled for the Rays in the World Series.  They lost.

So I guess it’s my fault (at least in part) that the Rays lost the series.  Sorry, Tampa, I’ll pull for the other team next time.