Preferred Plugins:
We want to build effective websites that are simple to use and edit. Future site editors (owners or developers) will appreciate that the site is not overcomplicated. Users (your clients) will always understand where they are in the site and how to get to what they want to see.
Our preferred plugins have free versions that have tremendous capabilities, and are usually simple to use. You don't have to use what we suggest. If you have established plugins that you like, we are happy to work with them.
Page Builder by SiteOrigin:
First off, the free version handles almost anything you can imagine. It provides structure and widgets to express your ideas.
There isn't room here to list all the widgets and what they do. Here is a sample: easily organize and edit information in rows and columns; insert carousels; sliders; galleries; action buttons; video player; Google Maps; headlines; testimonials; and lots more.
Nope. With a short instruction manual that we can provide, you can edit almost any part of a page. You can even move sections around with ease.
Formidable Forms:
First off, the free version handles almost any form you can imagine. It also provides a way for the site owner (from the front end) to enter/edit/delete things like posts, events, site messages.
Well, it obviously builds forms, but it also allows you to view the data from the forms in many different ways: tables, lists, galleries, etc.. We use this plugins to build ways for you to enter your own information without having to go through the WordPress dashboard. FF takes the form data, arranges it like you designed, and puts it in the right place on the site.
Building the forms and the views is complicated, but using the forms is not. We are ALWAYS focused on making life easy for our clients. We'll do the hard stuff.
MailPoet:
First off, the free version handles mailing lists with ease. It provides several ways for people to join your mailing lists and it has a nice drag and drop system for building newsletters and announcements.
It will send specific emails to your list based on things that happen on the site. For example, you post an announcement, an email is automatically sent to your list (and you can curate the list!) in the format that you previously designed. The announcement could have been a front end post (from a form that we built for you). We are just scratching the surface here.
There's a learning curve for sure. But, we are ALWAYS focused on making life easy for our clients. We'll do the hard stuff in direct and close consultation with you.