With so many to choose from, we’ve decided to give you a run down of our 5 favorite plugins for any WordPress install.

1. Contact Forms. Our first choice, for simple integration is Contact Form][
Our rating : 4 / 5

However if you want a lot of options and functions, our recommendation is Dagon Design Form Mailer. This awesome plugin has so many features we strongly recommend you visit their site. Attachments, multiple forms on multiple pages, captchas … With just a bit of code, you can build some pretty extensive forms for your site. Our rating : 5 / 5

2. RSS – We have had extensive experience with UTF / ISO RSS aggregators. Do read our entry on the subject. In the meantime, we recommend KB Advanced RSS Widget
Our rating : 4.5 / 5

3. Menus are essential for the look and feel of your site. Our all time favorite being : Menubar. If you’re adventurous, do go and edit the template files for each style and create your own look and feel for your site. Create multiple menus, control linkage. Our rating : 4 / 5

4. The WordPress editor – Don’t even think of starting a blog without this plugin. Not the easiest to install, as there is content in multiple folders. However it really is worth the trouble : TinyMCE Advanced. Our rating : 5/5

5. Live statistics ? If you want them tucked away in your admin panel, then do try StatPress. We’ve had nothing but great stats with this tool before we download our access files and run 123LogAnalyzer.