Of all the WordPress plugins you might consider using, beyond those required for the WordPress for Toastmasters, Jetpack should be on your short list. It’s active on every Toastmost.org website but requires some additional setup.
Useful features of Jetpack:
- Social media sharing buttons
- A contact form
- A basic site stats utility for monitoring traffic to your website
- Additional content formatting blocks and sidebar widgets
- Enhanced photo galleries and sliders
The Jetpack plugin is made by Automattic, the primary corporate backer of the open source WordPress.org project and the operator of WordPress.com. It allows independent Websites to take advantage of services from the WordPress.com network — including some that Automattic charges for. For a Toastmasters club website, I recommend you stick to the free features.
When you activate Jetpack, you will be prompted to connect to or create a WordPress.com account. Expect to see lots of prompts encouraging you to sign up for a paid subscription to the Jetpack service. Instead, I encourage you to sign up for the basic plan.
Once you have made the connection, you will be able to turn on various Jetpack features. For example, in the screenshot below, I’ve turned on the display of social sharing buttons but chosen not to use the feature that automatically shares new blog posts on social media.
Deciding what to turn on is a matter of taste, and I’m not going to attempt to explain all the many options, but here are a few resources:
- Official Jetpack support and documentation
- A detailed tutorial article
- A detailed 30+minute video tutorial, below
