One of the great things about Genesis framework is the availability of dedicated plugins to add extra functionality to your blog.
The best part about Genesis plugins is that most of them are free to download in the WordPress plugin repository.
To help you get started I have put together a list of some of the essential plugins that every Genesis website should be using.
Note: These plugins only works for sites that runs on the Genesis Framework.
1. Genesis Simple Hooks
Want to display ads or content in a specific location on your site? No problem. This plugin creates a new settings page that allows you to easily insert code into any area of your website, without having to actually dig in to your theme files.
2. Genesis Simple Edits
This plugin makes it easier to edit the three most commonly modified areas in any Genesis theme: the post-info (byline), the post-meta, and the footer area – all without having to learn PHP, filters, or mess with hooks.
3. Genesis eNews Extended
With the help of this plugin, you can easily create a new widget to add mailing lists integration to your Genesis website. Works perfectly with most email newsletter services such as FeedBurner, MailChimp, AWeber, FeedBlitz and more.
4. Genesis Simple Sidebars
Genesis Simple Sidebars allows you to create unique sidebars for any page on your site. This plugin is perfect for those who want to have different sidebars for different blog posts.
5. Simple Social Icons
Simple Social Icons is a great plugin that adds a “follow me” widget for displaying social media (Facebook, Twitter etc.) icons. The plugin is easy to use and includes a lot of customizable options to style the icons, such as changing the icon color and size, background color, border radius, as well as align them to the left,or right.
6. Design Palette Pro
This is a premium plugin that offers a suite of customization options for your Genesis site. It gives you the ability to customise every design aspect of your site – like changing colors, fonts, images, backgrounds, margins, padding, etc. It’s extremely easy to use and you don’t need to be a developer to style your theme.
7. Genesis Extender
Genesis Extender is another premium plugin in this list. It’s a very powerful and helpful plugin for developers who has a deeper understanding of the Genesis Framework. It basically provides you with the tools to do whatever modifications you want with your child theme without opening code editor, FTP program or messing with server.
8. Genesis Layouts Extras
By default Genesis comes with 6 layouts to choose from. These layouts options can be further extended upto 9 layouts through Genesis Layout Extras plugin.
This plugin can be used to modify the default layouts of your homepage, posts and pages, categories, archives, author pages, 404 error page, attachment, search results page, and more.
9. Genesis Simple Share
If you want your post shared on social media, this plugin is essential. This plugin enable the social sharing buttons on posts and pages. It also has the options to change the appearance of the icons, and where to display them as well. It’s a simple, lightweight plugin so it will never affect your page load time at all.
10. Easy Genesis (formerly Genesis Simple Customizations)
This free plugin makes everything easier for you. It comes with a lot of customisation options and setting changes that allow you to easily upload the custom favicon, remove the Genesis favicon image, post information, post meta, footer text, and the edit link.
11. Genesis Connect for WooCommerce
This handy plugin makes your Genesis theme WooCommerce compatible in few clicks and lets you sell products online with ease.
That is my list of my favorite Genesis plugins. If you think I missed one that you think is absolutely essential for every Genesis site, let us know in the comments below.