Insanely Awesome ExpressionEngine Tools You Can’t Live Without
2009 31
Recently, some people have asked me how we build ExpressionEngine sites. Although how we build a site varies with each project, there are definitely certain add-ons we find ourselves using all the time. There are so many great ones out there (and new ones being released all the time) I thought it would be cool to share some of them in a blog post. Feel free to add your comments about the ones you like to use.
12 Inspiring ExpressionEngine Tools You Have to Use Before Dying
Structure
Structure is a great way to build your ExpressionEngine sites. It lets you create a nice visual site tree out of your pages. We have been using it on all our projects and our clients seem to really like it. More importantly, it gives you the ability to break away from EE's templates and manage pages through Structure. It also lets you easily make breadcrumbs and navigation for your site based on Structure's page hierarchy. Get Structure »
FieldFrame
FieldFrame by Brandon Kelly is a collection of very useful fieldtypes for EE such as checkboxes, radio buttons, multiple select drop-downs, and something called "FF Matrix" which lets the user create tabular data fieldtypes. Get FieldFrame »
nGen File Field
Also a field type for the FieldFrame extension, the nGen File Field lets you upload files to your entries and is better than the default ExpressionEngine file upload field. It also integrates into FieldFrame's FF Matrix so you can create image galleries (see the tutorial at the bottom). Get nGen File Field »
WYSIWYG Editors
We have constantly debated which is the best WYSIWYG editor to use in ExpressionEngine. It seems to be one of the major things clients complain about when they compare ExpressionEngine to Wordpress. Recently, Brandon Kelly released WYGWAM which looks really promising and is based on the CK Editor. If you're more inclined to using TinyMCE, there is Leevi Graham's LG TinyMCE and the MX TinyBrowser Field for TinyMCE by WiseUpStudio which integrates with FieldFrame as a fieldtype.
Gypsy
When making weblogs, you might notice that you make a lot of custom fields that do the same thing. Gypsy, by Brandon Kelly, allows you to share custom fields among many weblogs so you don't need to keep duplicating them. Get Gypsy »
imgSizer
Usually a client wants to upload their own images, but it is unrealistic to expect them to pull the image into Photoshop and crop or scale them to a correct size. This plugin, by David Rencher, allows you to set a height, width, or both and it will scale the image proportionally when the page renders. Get the imgSizer plugin »
CM Template Editor Extension with EditArea
A lot of people make their templates external files for easy editing, but sometimes you want to just leave them inside of ExpressionEngine. This extension integrates the source code editor EditArea and tranforms your template editing areas into a real text editor. You can highlight code, indent with tabs, search, and go full screen. Get CM Template Editor »
Freeform
If you're putting forms on your site, you're definitely going to want to check out this module from Solspace. It is a reall easy way to make a contact form (or any form) for your site. Get Freeform »
LG Better Meta
This extension gives clients more control over their site's search engine optimization and can display default meta information for when the client doesn't add anything. It also allows you to easily make a sitemap. Get LG Better Meta »
8 Must Have Amazing ExpressionEngine Tools You Need to Survive on a Desert Island
Playa
ExpressionEngine comes with the ability to let you relate entries using the Related Entries tag, but it is limited to a single entry for each relationship. Playa, by Brandon Kelly, allows to to make multiple relationships among numerous weblogs and has a easy-to-use interface. If you don't want to purchase a license for Playa, give the Multi Relation extension a try. Get Playa »
Solspace Tag Module
Just like the name says, this module allows you to add tags to your entries. You can show all the entries that have a specific tag, show tags that belong to an entry, and easily create a tag cloud out of all your tags. Get Solspace's Tag Module »
Cloner
Cloner, by Paul Burdick, duplicates entries so you (or more imprtantly, your clients) don't have to. Get Cloner »
MD Eexcerpt
If you want to limit words in a post but want to keep the HTML in tact, check out TrunchHTML. Usually we want strip the HTML when showing an excerpt of text so we have been using Masuga Design's MD Eexcerpt. Get MD Eexcerpt »
Categories
They can be really frustrating to work with sometimes. Many people use the Query module to grab a category id, but we found this plugin on the ExpressionEngine forum which can get a category id number just by using the URL title. Or better yet, people have made some comments on this post about Low's Seg2Cat which might be the best solution ever.
1 (Really) Clever Tutorial About Using 4 Awesomely Useful Tools
Here is a cool video showing how you can combine some of the tools above to create an image gallery. Watch it on Vimeo »
4 Must Have, Exquisite, and Captivating ExpressionEngine Resources
There are constantly better tools coming out for ExpressionEngine all the time. Keep up to date by grabbing RSS feeds from ExpressionEngine sites such as EE Insider and Devot:ee. Also following people that use ExpressionEngine on Twitter is a great way to get the latest news, such as EE Hub and codeigniteee.
1 Stunning Conclusion
Although these add-ons aren't necessary for making a good ExpressionEngine site, they make building (and using) an EE site even easier. These are just a few useful tools we have found ourselves using time and time again. Do you have certain plugins, extensions, or modules that you have found helpful when building an ExpressionEngine site? Let us know!
BONUS ROUND!
After putting up this blog post, there have been some great comments about other ExpressionEngine tools. We actually used the suggestions in some of our projects, so thanks for telling us about them! Here is a recap:
- REEOrder allows you to easily re-order entries. Doug Avery found this modification by Tim Kelty that makes it play nice with Gypsy.
- Category Checkboxes is an extension that turns the category multi-select box on the Publish page into checkboxes.
- Low's Seg2Cat loops through the segments of the current URI, matches them against existing categories, and registers the matching categories as global variables, which you can use in your templates.
- Cloner gives you the ability to easily duplicate entries.
- Boomerang, by SmoothFunction, brings email marketing into ExpressionEngine templates along with tracking and reporting.
- Mozex allows you to open any Firefox textarea in Textmate. Doug Avery is a big fan of using the Mozex Plugin to edit EE templates. It's All Text! Firefox extension is another option.
- The ExpressionEngine Client Guide by Kyle Racki is a really useful guide you can give to clients on how to use EE. Kyle was even nice enough to provice the InDesign file so you can edit it.
- A solid list of ExpressionEngine addons was suggested by Leevi Graham.
- LG Replace is a plugin, also by Leevi Graham, that allows you to insert random pieces of content into full blocks of content (or put "needles" inside a "haystack").
- Cem Meric is keeping up a list of his favorite EE addons.
Yeah, love Freeform.
LG Replace is freeking awesome!
http://expressionengine.com/forums/viewthread/76788/
I’ve been using it to let the client place multiple images midd weblog. Makes it’s beautifully easy…
I’ve been interested in using Structure for a site, but haven’t tried it yet.
I find that I have been using the REEOrder Module, the Category Checkboxes Extension, and the Scroll to Comment Extension a lot recently. There are almost too many add-ons to name that have become a regular part of my EE installs.
Thanks for the link to the screencast!
This is a great list. I’m still not sold on Gypsy. But I’m coming around slowly.
The new one for me is Low’s Seg2Cat. OMG I can’t live without it now.
Structure, FieldFrame, and Freeform are included in almost every EE project I work on these days. I also will use either Textile/Markdown plugins if the client is somewhat tech-savvy, or LG TinyMCE if they’re a bit more “challenged.”
Good article though!
This is a great list of present-day add-ons.
I’d also recommend Edit Tab AXAJ as it saves me quite a bit of time before a site launch when editing copy.
Great list. I recently discovered the “Cloner” extension: such a simple thing, but a real lifesaver. And sometimes, I don’t know what I did before Structure and FieldFrame.
It’s still in beta, but I’ve recently become enamored with Solspace’s “Importer” module. We often have clients that have a pre-existing database (e.g., product listing) and “Importer” makes it relatively painless, and it’s a lot more flexible than EE’s built-in import tools.
Glad you’re liking Structure! Thanks for using it. New version very soon.
And if you’re on a desert island, it might benefit you to have a copy of Boomerang (http://smoothfunction.com/addons/boomerang) installed. You might need to email a lot of people for help and see if they got the email! :)
Good point Jack! You would definitely want to start an email campaign to get rescued! The only reason I didn’t include your app in the list was because I haven’t had a chance to try it out yet, but if/when I do, I will definitely add it under the “Tools You Need to Survive on a Desert Island” section. Thanks!
Muy buen blog de diseño! great blog! thanks from Argentina.
Great post! I also think that many of Laisvunas’ little plugins for dealing with cats/entries and ids can be really helpful.
his list:
http://expressionengine.com/forums/member/38398/
Whenever you are doing anything with categories I recommend Lodewijk Seg2Cat extension it has saved my life a number of times and I almost always install it as default.
http://loweblog.com/freelance/article/ee-low-seg2cat-extension/
Another vote for Low’s Seg2Cat.
Another one that’s practically a default is Masuga’s MD Markitup, an editor for Textile or Markdown. I tend to avoid WYSIWYG editors like the plague :)
Another default is SL Developer info which groups all info you may need (weblog fields, template names etc...) while coding in an easy to use interface.
EE is a really great system when you know how it works. thanks for that great list of Extensions, modules and plugins. You’ve named some pretty strong pieces.
Some small but usefull ones I keep reusing in all my sites are:
Deploy Helper which will help you change all your configuration parameters all in one place instead… saves a lot of time and headaches when you need to move a site to a new server.
http://www.hopstudios.com/software/deeploy_helper/
And a nice plugin called Class EE that gives your body a .class based on the url segments… pretty cool to target a specific page with your css styles.
http://github.com/amphibian/pi.classee_body.ee_addon
The list could go on… :)
If you’re going to use REEorder, why not use it with a single Gypsy field? REEorder + Gypsy + Structure is a fantastic combo.
By default, REEorder doesn’t play nice with Gyspy, but Tim Kelty did a modification that fixes this. Check it out here.
@Doug Avery-
Nice, I didn’t know there was a rewrite of REEOrder. Makes sense to make it a Gypsy field too. Thanks!
I’m a big fan of Textile in conjunction with Textile Editor Helper for my wysiswyg editor, though I am keen to try out wygwam.
Another essential add-on for me is deeploy helper.
Thanks for sharing your library of add-ons Keith, added to my list of Most Used ExpressionEngine Resources.
My overall favourites are Structure, FieldFrame, Gypsy, CM Template Editor and MX TinyBrowser Field for all image/file management.
There is also Img Tag Modifier I use instead of imgSizer.
Cem,
What is the advantage of Img Tag Modifier over ImgSizer?
Sean,
With Img Tag Modifier you can wrap it around a custom field e.g. body and it will modify all img tags to work with PhpThumb. Have look at this post for more on that.
On the other hand ImgSizer is good for standalone custom image fields.
This isn’t really an EE plugin, but I don’t know how I’d work in EE without the Mozex plugin, which allows me to open any Firefox textarea in Textmate. I know that the CM Template Editor highlights stuff well, but it doesn’t give you the range of commands you’d see in Textmate.
There is also It’s All Text! which works with any editor.
Goodness gracious. Can’t believe I’ve never come across Gypsy before. It’s a godsend.
Definitely bookmarking this post. Thanks!
Thanks for the mention of LG Better Meta!
@Matthew Ellis: Also thanks for pointing out LG Replace. It’s kinda a hidden gem, tucked away in the forum.
A bunch of great ExpressionEngine addons can also be found on GitHub
Wow, I’m bookmarking like crazy. Great suggestions and comments!
I’d like to add the following to this list, which allows you to install modules, extensions, and plugins with one click, rather than uploading files individually to the right folders:
You forgat WYSIWYG FCKEditor :(
We used FCKEditor for a while, but then moved to the TinyMCE editors I mentioned in the post. However, WYGWAM by Brandon Kelly runs on CKEditor, which is basically a new version of FCKEditor and I really like it.
I really like CKEditor. It is a complete redesign of FCKEditor and is touted to churn out standards compliant HTML code.
Any CMS worth its name should always have a WYSIWYG editing interface.
Not exactly a plugin, I’ve developed a well-designed, re-brandable client resource guide on how to use ExpressionEngine, and I give out the editable InDesign file available for download: http://headspacedesign.ca/blog/entry/expressionengine-client-guide/ (Link)
Now this is one great list of add-ons. Thanks so much! I wonder how I’ve managed to live without that :)
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