Wordpress Plugins

[Layla D. Smith]

I'm considering buying the following plugins...does anyone recommend another that may do the same work, but for less $$ on any of these? or, do you know where I can get a coupon code for any of them?

ReviewAzon
http://datawebpro.com/reviewazon

MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate
http://x15a.com/ninja_affiliate

Caffeinated Content for WordPress
http://mycaffeinatedcontent.com/

ADPS2 Affiliate Datafeed Profit System
http://x15a.com/wordpress_shareasale_datafeed_plugin

wptraffic
http://x15a.com/wptraffic

Utopia Ad Block
http://activeblogging.com/adblock/

phpBay
http://x15a.com/phpbaypro

phpOstock
http://x15a.com/Overstock_Wordpress_plugin

[marksierra]

I use phpBay Pro and definitely recommend it. Perhaps you can scour the web for some discount codes. But it has already paid for itself in my case.

I also use its sibling, phpZON, which is the competitor to ReviewAzon. I've only been using it for a couple of weeks, if that, but I have to say that I'm a little underwhelmed by it especially when comparing it to the power of phpBay. I'm really not sure how it compares to ReviewAzon, though.

[Layla D. Smith]

Thank you Mark. I will speak to the person assisting me with the blogs & ask them if they know what the difference is between reviewazon & phpzon. Perhaps they can give me a reason why one is better than the other. I appreciate your feedback.

[jkgourmet]

forgive my skepticism, but I can't help but wonder if the person who is helping you with your blogs is an affiliate for all these paid plug-ins. That means he will make a commission on each sale. I've got no problem with that AS LONG AS there is not a free plug-in that would do the job for you.

Have you checked the list of free plug-ins? There are thousands.

[marksierra]

Layla, jkgourmet got me to thinking about those free options. Regarding Amazon and eBay, they both offer a way to create a feed for a particular category of products. It's similar to what phpZON and phpBay do, respectively.

I'm assuming though that you are an affiliate of each of those programs. If not, then no matter what solution you choose (free or paid for), you won't have an account to get the commissions.

If you ARE an affiliate of those two, then you could go into the control panels for those accounts and do the widget/feed/link generation. Or give SquidUtils.com a try.

Hope this helps. :)

[retta719]

The free plugin for ebay affiliate stuff that I use is called Affomatic http://www.affomatic.com/ebayfree2.php It gets the job done, but phpBay has more features.

[TraciKnoppe]

I have bought maybe only one or two paid WP plugins in all the years I've been using WP; because I could easily find free plugins that did exactly what I needed them to do.

My advice on WP plugins, is to do install any plugin that you do not need and/or do not fully understand what it's for and why you need it. More features on a plugin does not always mean it's the best plugin to install.

So that said, you know your plugin needs better than anyone else. If you have searched Google and the Wordpress.org plugin directory and can not find a free plugin that does what you need it to, and the above plugins do offer what you need them to, then yes - I'd say buy them.

[Layla D. Smith]

Yes, I do believe that perhaps the person pushing these plugins gets a commission. I asked them if I find others that do the same thing, that aren't exactly the ones they recommend, then if it would matter. That is exactly why I asked the question. Thanks to everyone.

The problem is, I paid someone to set up my blogs. I don't know how to do that myself, I don't know what each of these plugins does, so I can't search to see if there is a free one that does the same.

I'll google each of them today, see what they do, then look for a free one that does the same, then let the person know that I did not get xyz, but, instead, I got abc.

Thank you everyone.

~Layla

[TraciKnoppe]

Layla - if you have hired someone to setup your blog for you, then they should do what you ask them to. If you do not know what the plugins do, then the plugins should not be installed. Period.

The blog is being setup for you, and your needs. Installing plugins for you, especially paid/premium plugins that cost you money, that you do not even know what they do - is not cool IMHO.

[jkgourmet]

A good free alternative to Ninja Affiliate is SEO Automatic Smart Links (http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/seo-automatic-links/).

As for the other products, use Lynn Terry's buying filter (http://www.clicknewz.com/2051/skeptical-of-im-products-you-should-be/) to see if they're right for you.

Msafi, can you help me understand a little more about what this does? I've read some of the basic info and it sounds like something I should install, but since I am still learning about linking, I'm not follwing this very well.

And like Traci advised, I don't want any plug in that I don't understand.

[Baggs]

SEO Automatic Smart Links looks like a good solution, however I cnat help thinking this is a sledgehammer to crack a nut - unless you have a really big blog, then it should be possible to create the link structure you need manually. -

Except where you want to subsequently add links from old pages to a new keyword rich page and don't want to trawl through your blog history. Use sparingly though!

[franknvegas]

Layla, here's a link for a 20% coupon for phpBay Pro:

http://epntips.com/

[franknvegas]

Layla, here's a link for a 20% coupon for phpPro:

http://epntips.com/

[jkgourmet]

SEO Smart Links does a few different things, but one of the important functions it has is the following:

Say you have a blog, and you frequently mention the phrase "dieting pills" in your writing. Now -- what if you could tell WordPress: whenever you see the phrase "dieting pill", I want you to change it into an anchor text (a link) to the following site:
http://yourfavoritedietingpillmerchant.com/youraffiliateid/ without me having to do anything.

Wouldn't it be great to automatically turn phrases or keywords in your posts into affiliate links? That's what Affiliate Ninja does and it's also what SEO Smart Link is capable of doing.

SEO Smart Links also has other purposes, but you can ignore these.

I just wanted to say that instead of getting Affiliate Ninja for $90 or $60, you can get SEO Smart Links for $0.

Cool. VERY cool. Since my current blog uses so many different products and affiliate programs, it may not work there, but on the next one(s). . .

Thanks much.