One of the most important parts of creating a website is making sure it’s user friendly for the site owner after the coding work is finished. I’ve learned that designing and developing websites is only part of my job. I also have to teach my clients how to navigate their way through the WordPress dashboard and use certain features I’ve added. Many of these extra features come from a wonderful plugin called Jetpack by WordPress.com.
Jetpack connects simple, user-friendly features from WordPress.com to self-hosted WordPress.org sites. When Jetpack was first suggested to me, I was confused because I had heard so many negative things about WordPress.com. Why would I need WordPress.com features if I was using the all-encompassing fully customizable self-hosted WordPress.org? Well, it turns out WordPress.com does have a few awesome features that could make any self-hosted site a bit more efficient and easy to use, particularly for someone who doesn’t want to code a lot.
So, what is included in the Jetpack plugin? So. Many. Good. Things. This plugin comes with 27 dynamic features, but I’ll start with my top ten favorites.
1. Contact Form – A simple way to add a clean contact form to any page. I’m a fan of Jetpack’s version of contact forms because all of the feedback you receive is filtered through Akismet (the anti-spam superhero of WordPress).
2. Custom Content Types – This is a really great feature that lets you display different types of content on your site, such as portfolio projects or testimonials.
3. Custom CSS – I love using this CSS Editor when I need to preview CSS changes before I make them. This is a good way for site owners to make changes to their websites without worrying about making any crucial mistakes.
4. Mobile Theme – If you need to make your website mobile friendly but don’t have time to have it fully customized, this feature is a quick fix!
5. Related Posts – Adding related posts at the bottom of each post is key if you want your reader to keep clicking around your site. I love that Jetpack includes this feature.
6. Sharing Buttons – The sharing feature allows users to share your content anywhere with the click of a button. A while ago, I shared a tutorial on how to customize your Jetpack sharing buttons. There are so many options! Scroll to the bottom of this post to see how we customized our sharing buttons.
7. Site Stats – Jetpack organizes and breaks down all of your pageviews and sessions in a way that is extremely easy to understand. You can see how people are finding your website, where they are visiting from, and how your traffic has improved month to month.
8. Subscriptions – With this feature, your reader can sign up to receive posts and/or comments via email. A great option if you don’t have a newsletter but want readers to stay connected!
9. VaultPress – Backing up your WordPress site is always a smart thing to do. VaultPress backs up your content, themes, and plugins and performs frequent security scans. Access to VaultPress requires a monthly subscription but is worth looking into if your web host doesn’t already back up your files.
10. Widget Visibility – This allows you to show or hide widgets depending on which page is being visited.
These are just my favorites, but there are several other perks of Jetpack that I didn’t mention. Visit the official Jetpack website for a detailed tour of all its other amazing features! To download the plugin, click here.
Are you a fan of Jetpack already? If so, what features do you find most helpful?
Melody says
im a free word press user but I really want to commit one day to the yearly subscription.The jet-pack plugin sounds great.
http://sheismelrose.net/
Ana says
This post comes at the perfect time for me. I’m a new WordPress user, working on setting up and launching my health coaching website, and there is so much to learn about the platform that it gets overwhelming sometimes. This plugin was one that I was on the fence about, particularly because, as you mentioned, I noticed a WordPress.com account is required, and I hadn’t heard good things about it. This post had lots of great information and made my life a little easier by taking the guesswork out of one of the millions of little decisions I’ve had to make over the last few weeks, so thank you for that!
I hope your week is going well! :)
Jennifer says
Glad this post was helpful for you, Ana! I felt the same way when I saw that I’d need to use a WordPress.com account. Hope you get a lot out of the plugin though! If you end up needing coding help with your site, feel free to send over an email. :)
Kristie Hill says
Jetpack has great options, I will add: make sure to disable the mobile friendly option if your theme is already has a responsive design! Jetpack takes over and makes your mobile design ugly.
Jennifer says
Totally agree! The mobile view is a quick fix but it’s not very pretty haha.
Kelly says
Hey there again! Regarding the Related Posts feature, I’m guessing that’s the “You May Also Like” section for your posts? Do you have any tutorials on the Related Posts? I had mine activated but nothing showed up.
Jennifer says
Hi Kelly! Yep, they’re the same thing. I don’t have any tutorials on the Related Posts feature, mostly because I haven’t found a plugin for it that I particularly like. The Jetpack feature is pretty limited. :/
I’ll work on finding alternative options to share though!