Every WordPress website uses plugins to help it operate effectively and efficiently. A good WordPress plugin can improve the experience of visitors, expand functionality and make your life easier.
If you manage a WordPress-powered online store, you may already be familiar with popular WooCommerce and eCommerce plugin extensions that add useful functionality to the front-end and back-end of your online shop.
In this article, however, I’d like to share with you a selection of amazing WordPress plugins that were not designed specifically for eCommerce websites, though they can be incredibly useful when managing an online shop.
Photo by Nathan da Silva on Unsplash
1. Admin Menu Editor
Regardless of their importance, WordPress developers frequently integrate their plugin into the top level of the WordPress admin menu. This can be a major problem for those who require many eCommerce plugin extensions to manage their online shop. Thankfully, you can organise and declutter the WordPress admin menu by installing Admin Menu Editor.
Admin Menu Editor lets you move menu items around using drag and drop, change menu permissions, hide menus and more. A pro version of the plugin is available which gives you even greater control over your menus. It retails from only $29.
2. Loco Translate
Loco Translate is a translation solution that lets you translate themes and plugins directly from the WordPress admin editor using an in-browser editor. The developers offer premium translation services themselves, though there is also native support for integrating services such as DeepL, Google, Microsoft and Yandex.
The Automatic Translator WordPress plugin can be used to simplify the process of automatic translation.
3. Query Monitor
If you’re debugging or spending significant time developing your shop, you’ll appreciate the functionality offered in Query Monitor. The plugin helps you see queries, logs, requests, scripts, styles, errors, API calls and much more.
Query Monitor works well with other debugging WordPress plugins such as Debug Bar and there are a number of third-party plugins that extend Query Monitor further.
4. WP Control
WP Control allows you to view and control all cron jobs in WordPress (WP-Cron) directly from the WordPress admin area. Key cron settings can be modified and you can run crons manually and create new cron schedules too.
5. Advanced Custom Fields
Advanced Custom Fields is a fantastic WordPress plugin with a user-friendly API that allows you to create new custom fields. There are over 30 field types to choose from including radio button, gallery, Google Map and link.
ACF Pro is available from $49 per year. It unlocks many additional fields and settings for developing advanced websites. Be sure to check out CommerceGuru’s article “Add custom fields to WooCommerce Products using ACF” to see how you can use Advanced Custom Fields to add custom fields to WooCommerce products.
6. Admin Columns
Admin Menu Editor gives you full control over your WordPress admin menus, though if you want to manage columns in the admin area, you need to install Admin Columns. The plugin supports every type of WordPress post type, allowing you to change column labels, order and width.
Admin Columns Pro retails from $89 per year. It adds many more sorting and filtering options and closer integration with popular third-party plugins such as Advanced Custom Fields. Shop owners should consider upgrading as it offers additional columns for WooCommerce and greater control over products.
7. User Role Editor
If more than one person manages your online store, I recommend installing User Role Editor. It can be used to change permissions and capabilities of user roles and groups and set up new user roles and groups. This is particularly useful for controlling what staff can do and cannot do. You can then use a plugin such as User Switching to ensure permissions are set correctly.
From $29 per year, you can upgrade to User Role Editor Pro and gain extra control over logged in users, widgets, post and page restrictions, editing permissions and more.
8. Adminimize
Adminimize allows you to hide unnecessary items from your WordPress admin area. This includes menus, widgets, settings, posting permissions and more. All you have to do is select a setting and deactivate it for a particular user group.
The plugin is useful for removing menus and settings that are not relevant to you and your staff.
9. Redirection
Redirection is a WordPress plugin that helps you track 404-page errors and create URL redirections. It supports several HTTP status codes for redirections: 301, 302, 303, 304, 307 and 308. Conditional redirects can be defined based on a user’s logged-in status, user role, browser, referrer, IP address and more.
Shop owners can use Redirection in a number of different situations. For example, you can use the plugin to redirect users from 404 errors to promotions, send customers to a different login page and redirect visitors to a new product URL.
10. Better Search Replace
If you’re looking to make bulk changes to your online shop, I recommend using Better Search Replace. It allows you to search your whole WordPress database and replace keywords and phrases. You should obviously backup your website before doing any search and replace, though the plugin does boast a dry run option that lets you see potential changes before applying them.
Better Search Replace Pro retails from $59 per year. It adds additional features such as custom profiles, SQL backups and the ability to backup your website whilst performing changes.
11. Code Snippets
Code Snippets lets you insert PHP functions and code snippets into your theme’s functions.php file. You can define where the code snippet is run and its priority.
Code snippets can be imported and exported in JSON format. You can also download your snippets in PHP to make it easier to migrate the code to WordPress themes and plugins.
12. WP Dashboard Notes
My final recommendation is WP Dashboard Notes. It’s not a WordPress plugin you will see frequently recommended to shop owners, though you’ll be surprised at how useful it can be.
You can use WP Dashboard Notes to add colourful sticky notes to your WordPress dashboard. Notes can be written using lists or text and you make the notes private or public. It’s an effective method of adding notes and updates for yourself and staff members.
Final Thoughts
Administration and developer WordPress plugins rarely get the same exposure as WooCommerce plugin extensions, SEO plugins or performance plugins, though they can greatly reduce how much time you spend working on your online store.
- Menus & Columns – Admin Menu Editor can help prevent the WordPress admin area from becoming too bloated and you can use Admin Columns to only show relevant information on edit screens.
- Managing Users – User Role Editor and Adminimize allow you to define what your staff can and cannot do. WP Dashboard Notes is also useful for notes and reminders.
- Shop Development – If you’re making custom modifications to your online store, you’ll appreciate the functionality of Loco Translate, Query Monitor, WP Control, Code Snippets and Advanced Custom Fields. They will help you debug errors and simplify the task of adding functions and custom fields. Should you change the name of your store or change important products, you can use Better Search Replace to update all references and use Redirection to ensure customers are sent to the correct page.
All of the plugins in this article are free to download, so I encourage you to test them out for yourself and see if they improve your workflow.
Which WordPress plugins do you use to help you run your online shop? Please let us know in the comment area 🙂
