Ten must-have add-ons for ExpressionEngine 2 (Now goes up to Eleven!)

Without further ado, here is a list of must-have add-ons.

Deeploy Helper

Still, with version 2 of ExpressionEngine, setting various paths requires jumping around to different spots in the control panel. Deeploy Helper consolidates all this on one screen. Free, with suggested donation.

FreeForm

A nicely integrated system for building forms. Contact forms, sign-up, you name it. If you’re building forms within ExpressionEngine 2, this is the best option. Powerful and free. If you want a more robust, user-friendly system for forms, WuFoo is great.

Low Reorder

Allows arbitrary reordering of entries. Whether you have a list of items that simply must be ordered a certain way (not by date, title, etc., as that is built in to ExpressionEngine), Low Reorder does this simply and very well. €12.00.

NSM Morphine Theme for Control Panel + Anti-Pink + Usability

ExpressionEngine developers will argue about what makes the best-looking control panel, but I think this add-on combination makes things a lot neater. The Morphine theme cleans up buttons and fonts, while Anti-Pink simply removes the glaring pink in most places. Usability makes some additional minor but useful tweaks. All free.

WYGWAM

To date, in my opinion, the best WYSIWYG (or “rich text”) editor. Integrates well with the file structure created with ExpressionEngine’s file manager. My preferred WYSIWYG editor is TinyMCE, but its implementation in ExpressionEngine 2 lacks the integration of MoxieCode File Manager, which is far more robust than ExpressionEngine’s. So for now, WYGWAM is the way to go. $35.

“String”

This simple but powerful plugin allows you to set and pass strings from one template to another. I use it for meta tags. You can do this in a template, inside your {exp:channel:entries…} tag:

{exp:string:set name=“meta-title” default=”{title}"}
SECTION NAME: {title}
{/exp:string:set}

and pass values to the header template. $10.