Essential ExpressionEngine Add-ons
by Ryan Irelan
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of ExpressionEngine add-ons out in the wild. Many of those are critical to any sites I develop, so I thought I’d share a list of ExpressionEngine add-ons that I use for almost every project.
Extensions
- Edit Tab Ajax - AJAXifies the Edit screen search so results appear without reloading the page. Not required, but a nice touch.
- FieldFrame - A framework for developing fieldtypes in ExpressionEngine. It’s handy, it’s dandy and by golly I like it.
- LG Add Sitename - Does what it says; adds the site name to the header of the control panel.
- LG Data Matrix - Ever need a custom field in EE that allows you to enter multiple records? LG Data Matrix is what you’re looking for. Killer add-on that you’ll find yourself using over and over again.
- MH File - An oldie but a goodie. Mark Huot’s extension makes it easy to upload files right inside of the entry form.
- Goto Comment - Don’t make your site visitors find the comment they just posted. This extension automatically scrolls down to the last submitted comment. Bravo!
- LiveLook - Give your clients an easy way to preview their content before posting. Live Look allows you to use your site templates so the previews look just like the real site. I use this here on EE Insider, among other places.
Plugins
- Allow EEcode - Simply allows you to use EE template code inside of your ExpressionEngine entries.
- FeedGrab - Take an RSS feed and add its content as entries in your EE system.
- YearList - Get a list of all of the years in which there are entries.
Modules
- Freeform - Doesn’t everyone already know about this one? It’s a classic EE add-on that is probably a well-worn tool in everyone’s EE tool belt.
- Pages - Easily create single pages inside of ExpressionEngine. This module ships with all licensed versions of ExpressionEngine but is not enabled by default.
- Askimet - Probably the most essential add-on of them all and one you should use on every site you build that accepts comments. This module/extension bundle allows you to filter out spam comments using the WordPress.com Akismet service.
This list is by no means comprehensive; it’s simply what I use. There are many other great EE add-ons out there. What are some others that you consider a must-have?
Posted on Apr 16, 2009
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Brandon Kelly — 10:11 on 04.16.2009
Great list! And thanks for the FieldFrame mention!
Andru Edwards — 10:13 on 04.16.2009
Ryan,
Akismet is now Low NoSpam, and supports weblog comments, wiki articles, photo gallery comments, and forum posts. It lets you use Akismet or the TypePad AntiSpam system
Adam Smith — 10:31 on 04.16.2009
Nice post Ryan.
I’m always interested in hearing how everyone uses addons to personalize their EE setups.
I’m been looking forward to using LG Data Matrix, but I’m not sure I’ve got my head completely wrapped around it yet :/
Erik Reagan — 10:43 on 04.16.2009
Thanks for the round-up, Ryan. I didn’t know about a couple of these and I already use most of them on a typical project as well.
Cheers
Jaakko Knuutila — 10:44 on 04.16.2009
LiveLook used with Tiny MCE is an excellent combo in cases where you want to offer some wysiwyg functionality.
Ryan Blaind — 11:11 on 04.16.2009
Nice, I have actually started using the FF Matrix fieldtype as well as nGen file fieldtype instead of LG Data Matrix and MH File respectively. Worth a mention for sure.
Brian Warren — 11:20 on 04.16.2009
Great list ryan!
If you have FieldFrame and ff matrix, which comes by default with FieldFrame, why do you need LG Data Matrix? Same question with Huot’s File, since you can add nGen’s File Field which works with FieldFrame?
Brian Warren — 11:21 on 04.16.2009
Oop! Ryan Blaind just asked the same question but 9 minutes earlier than I. Nicely done Ryan!
Brian — 11:30 on 04.16.2009
Am I the only one who doesn’t like the File extension? It’s great if you always upload an image from your computer, but what if you wanted to place an image you already had on your server?
And I’d replace the Pages module with Structure.
Sean — 12:36 on 04.16.2009
Great list. The only one I’ve never managed to figure out is the pages module. It never works the way I expect it to. So I just set things up differently to get static pages.
Bob — 12:47 on 04.16.2009
I prefer the accessible captcha over askimet.
The excellent new addons LG Replace and Ngen’s File Field are also standard install material.
Martin Kulakowski — 12:58 on 04.16.2009
Any EE project would highly benefit from LG Better Meta and LG .htaccess Generator. If you’re working on a blog, definitely get LG Social Bookmarks as well. - All work awesome, thanks to Leevi: http://leevigraham.com/cms-customisation/expressionengine
John Faulds — 13:15 on 04.16.2009
Others I use:
Gypsy
Cloner
Publish Tweeks
ImgSizer
SS Friendly 404
DC Template Manager
SL Developer Info
Structure
John Faulds — 13:16 on 04.16.2009
By the way, you mention GoToComment but don’t appear to be using it on this site.
Leevi Graham — 13:16 on 04.16.2009
@Bob: Not sure you can still call LG Replace New (first posted in the EE Forums: 14 April 2008 07:34 PM)
@Martin Kulakowski: I personally consider LG Better Meta and LG .htaccess essentail ExpressionEngine addons
@Everyone Re: LG Data Matrix - I’ve pretty much discontinued coding LG Data Matrix. FieldFrame Matrix is far more powerful and is the recommended option.
I’m not sure that this list included commercial addons, but the combination of NSM Publish Plus and LG Live Look is also essential for multi-publisher workflows.
Of course I might be a bit biased
Adam Khan — 13:49 on 04.16.2009
Plugins: form_helper, imgsizer, replace, textile
Extensions: cloner, dulee_noted, edit_alert, edit_remember, ez_category_checkboxes, filter_by_author, ih_textile_editor, md_livesearch, saef_redirect, disable_news_feed
Adam Khan — 13:53 on 04.16.2009
Modules: Importer, User
Low — 22:35 on 04.16.2009
I use Mr. Wilson’s Reeposition regularly, but it seems his site is borked at the moment.
Sean — 23:03 on 04.16.2009
I would like to add one module
DEEploy
Matthew Pennell — 01:49 on 04.20.2009
I’ll second Deeploy - during development I often dump my dev database into the live site, and Deeploy is invaluable for quickly fixing incorrect URLs and server pathnames.
I also prefer my own scroll to last comment extension.
Brian — 06:41 on 04.27.2009
Structure and Gypsy are two ridiculously valuable add-ons.
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