So I have gone back and forth, edit after edit, and I think I am finally happy with the design and extra features of my new WordPress blog. I used a little knowledge of php and alot of knowledge of css, html and even javascript. As nerdy as it sounds, I love web programming and designing. To take a simple boring layout and bring it out into this beast is great.

To help in this process of customizing WordPress, I have used the following plugins which I find are great for any WordPress standalone installation. Also, before I continue, it is important to mention for all you beginners out there that the plugins (& customizing overall) can only be done on stand alone installations. This cannot be used on WordPressWordPress.com.

1. TDO Mini Forms – This one allowed me to make a custom Ask Ivi form
2. All in One SEO – This allows me, and SEO aficionado, to add in custom meta descriptions and keywords for google
3. Google XML Sitemaps generator – Tells google spiders which pages to crawl, including new ones, automatically
4. PicasaImport – lets you see my public albums on Picasa as an rss feed.
5. WP-RSSImport – I’m obbsessed with msn today screen and this lets me take their rss feed and share it with you.
6. Yet Anothor Related Posts Plugin – lastly but definately not least, this plugin shows you any post that I may have that could be related to this topic.

Take these plugins out for a spin. If you have any questions on how I set them up and used them, let me know and I’ll try to help you out. Happy web designing!