Modular design of the WordPress blog platform architecture was perhaps one of the best decisions by its author Matt M. Now anyone with knowledge can create WordPress Plugins that not only augment some functionality of the blog but also completely redefine it or allow us to use the platform in a ways original design never intended.

Extensibility of WordPress through plugins is what allows us to present our own uniqueness on the web while still using very same core and add functionality most desired by our readers. In this article I want to talk about 4 WordPress plugins I have found while browsing the web that provide some great addition to Niche blogs.

“WP Math Pub” plugin for WordPress

Very unique by its functionality plugin that addresses interests of specific niche WP Math Pub plugin allows one to display Math problems on the blog. I have to admit that while I was impressed by the functionality - math is one of those things that is total rubbish to me and I’ll quote the author on its functionality:

The “WP Math Pub” plugin for WordPress, or wpmathpub for short, displays mathematical equations within your posts, comments, and pages. It’s a simple plugin that takes advantage of Pascal Brachet’s PHP Math Publisher version 0.3 library - bundled with this plugin.

Here is what it looks like (click on image to visit plugin’s home page):

akWpLightBox : simple lightbox for WordPress

No frills and yet very effective and simple to use plugin that allows you to add lightbox effect to the images display on your blog. This plugin is great example where author manages to overcome technical complexity in order to provide us with a plugin that adds much coveted functionality to the blog.

I’m not going to into detailed explanations here but simply allow you to visit the author’s site and get it. Install is very simple and in comments you can find some ideas on how to modify the shading for the plugin , so pay attention!

Visit akWpLightBox Home Page Here

Mortgage and Loan Calculators Plugin For WordPress

With US properties market quickly going down the drain this plugin serves a very desirable Niche and provides you with ability to add much needed service to your blog - if this is your readers base.

Installation and addition are very simple and not much I can say here but what I do like is that how it nicely integrates into WordPress blog. See scheenshots below and click on them to get the plugin

The Donations Cloud

And last but not by any means least - The Donations Cloud WordPress Plugin. An absolutely genius way to get donations box on your box that rewards the people who decide to donate by providing a backlink to their site with anchor text defined by the person making donation.

Amount of donations determines the Size of the Text in donation cloud and gives an extra boost (or so we hope) to the donation amount. You are also provided with control and ability to add “nofollow” attribute to the links to ensure that you will not get penalized by Google. Just make sure that people donating are aware of it.

I think this plugin is most appropriate to Non-Profit blogs but can be used on just about any blog. Just make sure you don’t appear as beggar! See screenshot below and click on it to get the plugin.

Enjoy and let me know if any of these plugins are useful to you!

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