Recommended Plugins & Services

Below is a list of recommended WordPress plugins and services that I’ve (AJ) successfully tested with the Total theme that can provide additional functionality outside the scope of what a theme should provide. The plugins and services listed in below are fantastic no matter what theme you are using.

We don’t offer support for these services or plugins since they are outside the scope of the theme, so if you have any issues you will need to contact the correct party. These are simply my suggestions, there are of course many great alternatives out there.

WP Core Plugins

• Classic Editor Plugin: Replaces the newer Gutenberg editor with the original WordPress classic editor. This is a fantastic plugin if you do not want to use Gutenberg.
• Classic Widgets Plugin: Changes the newer Gutenberg based widgets back to the former widgets that we all love. Important: You can also enable classic widgets via the Theme Panel by unchecking the “Widget Block Editor” option.

Reliable WordPress Hosting

• WPEngine: This is the hosting service we use for WPExplorer and our Total demos. It’s very fast, has built-in optimizations and cache for WordPress as well as one click staging sites. Highly recommended.
• Pressable: Amazing managed WordPress hosting created by the same company that owns WordPress!
• Kinsta: Very high quality hosting, fast with tons of options and optimizations for WordPress.
• SiteGround: Budget friendly WordPress hosting. Can also be very fast and has various plans to choose from (make sure you choose a WordPress hosting solution).

Caching & Optimization Plugin & Services

• WPRocket Plugin: An all-in-one premium solution for caching and optimizing your site. Even if you are already using quality hosting like WPEngine you can use a plugin like WPRocket for some added optimizations.
• Autoptimize Plugin: My favorite free plugin for optimizing your WordPress site’s front-end HTML output and scripts. Minify and combine scripts to help speed up your site and improve Google page speed scores. Also supports Critical CSS and script deferring.
• JetPack Boost Plugin: Provides one-click optimizations that supercharge your WordPress site’s performance and improve web vitals scores for better SEO.
• SG Optimizer: An optimization plugin for Site Ground Hosting customers for caching and optimizing your site.
• CloudFlare: A free CDN (premium plans also available) which also includes added optimizations to cache and speed up your site. We use the “Business” plan for our sites.
• Disable Elements for WPBakery: We created this add-on so you can easily disable elements you aren’t using and slim down your site.

Security Plugins & Services

• WordFence: Wordfence is a comprehensive WordPress security plugin that protects sites from malware, hacks, and malicious traffic. It includes a firewall, malware scanner, and login security features like two-factor authentication.
• Sucuri: Sucuri is a robust WordPress security platform that safeguards websites from hacks, malware, and DDoS attacks. It offers a website firewall, malware scanning, and continuous security monitoring to keep sites secure.
• JetPack Security: Jetpack Security is a WordPress plugin that protects sites with automated backups, malware scanning, and brute-force attack protection. It also includes uptime monitoring and security alerts to keep your site safe and reliable.

SEO Plugins

• Yoast SEO Plugin: Most popular SEO plugin for WordPress. We use it on all our sites. They offer a premium version, but most people only need the free version.
• RankMath SEO Plugin: Another great SEO plugin. I actually REALLY like this plugin. The UI is beautiful, it seems much faster than Yoast SEO and has more to offer. If I hadn’t been using Yoast for years already, I would most likely switch to this plugin. They do have an import function to migrate your Yoast data over to their plugin, but I haven’t had the time to look into switching, I may some day though!
• AIOSEO: All in One SEO is a powerful premium WordPress SEO plugin that helps website owners optimize their content for search engines, improving visibility and rankings. And it integrates well with WPBakery!

Form Plugins

• Total Theme Core: The Total theme includes a simple Contact Form element you can use without the need for any other 3rd party plugins.
• WPForms Plugin: A very nice looking and easy to use form plugin. Also fantastic!
• Contact Form 7 Plugin: Probably the most popular form plugin for WordPress that is also 100% free. Highly recommended. The Total theme also includes some built-in optimizations and custom styles for this plugin.
• Gravity Forms Plugin: My favorite premium form plugin for WordPress. Highly recommended for more advanced forms. I actually use this plugin for our ticket submission form (via their Helpscout addon plugin).

Page Builders

• WPBakery Page Builder Plugin: This is the primary page builder recommend for the Total theme and it comes bundled for free. Total includes over 80 custom elements for this page builder. I love how easy and simple this plugin is to use.
• Elementor Plugin: Another very popular page builder plugin that is also fully supported by the Total theme. It is a great alternative if you want a builder that is a bit sleeker and more modern.
• Gutenberg: This is the new editor in WordPress which took over the Classic Editor. Now, we don’t personally recommend this plugin as a Page Builder because in our opinion it’s hard to use and very limited. However, it is great for creating posts and custom post types! We recommend using WPBakery or Elementor for your main pages (homepage, contact, about, etc) as well as creating dynamic templates then using Gutenberg for the post content. This way you can setup your main content using a “better” builder and then use Gutenberg for the more generic content.

Custom Post Type Plugins

• Post Types Unlimited Plugin: A plugin for adding custom post types and taxonomies to your site. This plugin was created by me and the Total theme includes full support so not only can you add your custom types and taxonomies you can also customize the way they function on the frontend.

Custom Field Plugins

• Total Theme Core: The Total Theme Core plugin includes a class that can be used to add custom fields to your site using code. View a sample snippet. As long as you just need some basic custom fields, why bother installing a new plugin?
• Advanced Custom Fields Plugin: This is my favorite plugin for adding custom fields (meta options) to your WordPress posts. It’s an amazing addition for the Total dynamic templates functionality. Highly recommended for advanced sites and integrates well with the Post Types Unlimited plugin mentioned above. They do offer a premium version, but the free version is perfect for most.

Widget Area Plugins

• Total Theme Core: The theme includes it’s own functionality for custom sidebars – so really, we don’t recommend installing a 3rd party plugin. But if you want to, the following two are good options.
• WooSidebars Plugin: An awesome plugin for creating and assigning custom sidebars (widget areas) to your WordPress site.
• Custom Sidebars Plugin: Another very nice plugin for creating custom widget areas. This one has a very nice UI that integrates into the Widget screen.

Menus, Megamenus & Custom Header Plugins

• Max Mega Menu: A very clean and more minimal mega menu plugin for creating horizontal navigation style menus. This would be a nice plugin when using the Header Builder or if you wanted to override the default theme menu. Total includes built-in support for the plugin so if you assign a max mega menu to the Total theme header menu location (main_menu) the theme will automatically remove the theme’s menu customizer settings to slim things down and disable the theme’s mobile menu.
• Uber Menu Plugin: A very popular plugin for creating mega menus. It integrates well with the Total theme. In my opinion the plugin is a bit “old-school” looking and has so many options so there is a learning curve but it is fantastic.
• Groovy Mega Menu (and custom header) Plugin: This plugin allows you to create beautiful custom menus and headers for your site. It includes TONS of options and is a fantastic addition for any site where you need more control over the header. You can use this plugin together with the Total Header Builder functionality.
• Superfly Plugin: Beautiful plugin for creating all sorts of different menus but especially great for “pop-up” and sidebar style menus.
• Conditional Menus Plugin: An awesome plugin that allows you to display different menus for different sections of your site.

Custom Grid & AJAX Filter Plugins

• Total Theme Cards: The theme includes a power element named “Post Cards” which can be used to display posts anywhere on the site. You can create your own card styles for the entry designs as well as use the Navigation bar element for an ajax category filter. It’s possible to create more advanced filters with custom code as well, view a sample snippet.
• Search & Filter: This is probably the best premium solution for advanced filters at the greatest price. It’s also very easy to integrate this plugin with the theme’s Custom Cards!
• Ultimate Layouts for WPBakery – This is a very affordable, good looking and very extensive plugin for displaying custom grids on the site with the ability to also have AJAX filtering and lazy loading, the plugin includes many styles as well as support for videos, carousels, etc.
• FacetWP Plugin: An awesome plugin for creating complex filterable grids. This plugin also integrates well with the Total Cards API if you wanted to use their filters but display theme cards or custom cards.
• GridBuilder Plugin: Beautiful plugin (but kinda expensive) for creating custom grid designs that also supports AJAX filters and load more functions.

Image Gallery Plugins

• Real Media Library: An amazing plugin for organizing your WordPress media library into categories which also integrates with the Total theme.

Video Plugins

• Lazy Load Videos Plugin: A plugin that will turn your video embeds on the site into clickable thumbnails.

Shop & Ecommerce Plugins

• WooCommerce Plugin: The most popular shop plugin for WordPress and in fact one of the most popular shop solutions on the web. Total includes full support for this plugin including custom styles to alter the default design and Customizer settings to give you more control over your shop.
• Easy Digital Downloads Plugin: A very good plugin for selling digital goods on your site. The Total theme only includes base integration with the plugin to ensure it works well but it doesn’t include any extra settings for the plugin at this time (maybe in the future if customers request it).

WooCommerce Addons

• Official WooCommerce Addons: Official WooCommerce add-ons can be pricey, but investing in them might be worthwhile for the reliability and support they offer, compared to using a third-party alternative.
• Yith Plugins: YITH is a well-known company that offers a suite of WooCommerce plugins that enhance online stores with features like wishlists, product customization, multi-vendor support and product comparisons.
• Ajaxified Cart Plugin: A very handy Free plugin for ajaxifying the WooCommerce single product add to cart button to prevent the page from re-loading when adding products to the cart. The Total theme includes built-in support for this plugin.
• Product Carousels for Total: Enables carousels for the WooCommerce related, up-sells and cross-sells.

Event Plugins

• Just Events: A free plugin created by us! Perfect for a simple event listings, see the dedicated Just Events documentation for total.
• The Events Calendar: If you’re looking for an all-in-one event plugin, this is it. Widely trusted and widely used, it’s fully compatible with the Total theme and even offers built-in features like a custom card and dedicated event queries for the Post Cards element.

WPBakery Addons

• WPBakery Page Builder Clipboard – No longer needed – this function is now in WPBakery core! Allows you to easily copy/paste WPBakery content on the same page or between pages.
• WP ACF-VC Bridge – This plugin provides further/advanced integration between the Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) Plugin and WPBakery.

Dedicated Addons

• Term Based Dynamic Templates: Allows you to assign Dynamic Templates to different categories, tags and custom taxonomy terms. You can set the dynamic template for the archive or for all posts assigned to the term.
• Assign Staff as Authors: This theme specific plugin will allow you to assign your staff members from the Staff post type as authors for your posts.
• Scroll Up Sticky Header: This plugin will change the way the theme’s sticky header works so it only displays as you are scrolling up the page.