What WordPress plugins do you use with Divi?

15 Sep 2022 | web design

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If you build a WordPress website with the builder and Divi theme, you can always use some plugins. No matter how comprehensive Divi is. Exactly what WordPress plugins do you need when working with this? I’ll give you some examples in this article.

A word in advance: WordPress is one of the most widely used content management systems (CMS) in the world, a CMS is a system for building websites. If you work with WordPress, you also need a builder. The standard builder is Gutenberg and that will get you a long way. You also have numerous themes to choose from. A theme is a series of files that shape the appearance of your web site.

Divi is a bit of a special case, as this is a builder and theme in one. This product from Elegant Themes is enormously comprehensive: for example, you can work with more than 140 templates or create websites completely from scratch with a great visual builder. As a web designer, I naturally prefer to do the latter. But as already stated, Divi alone won’t get you there.

Curious about how to build a website in WordPress? Read here the step-by-step plan to get started with WordPress.

Why use plugins with Divi?

Divi, like all other themes and builders, also has shortcomings. For example, it does not have a built-in calendar module and websites with more than a hundred photos may start to slow down.

To accommodate this, there are actually endless plugins. These are pieces of software that you plug into your web site. Some are higher quality than others. For example, one cache plugin works better than another on a Divi website. By the way, a cache plugin is a plugin that helps speed up the loading speed of your website by displaying a picture of your website to the visitor, so to speak.

Which WordPress plugins for Divi?

As a web designer, I often I use these plugins. I can tell you from experience that these plugins will do just fine. If you use a plugin that doesn’t work well with Divi, then problems may arise. Think of the visual builder failing or rendering your layout differently, you don’t want to experience that! So here comes my top five!

Note! The world of plugins is also constantly changing, and sometimes things change faster than I can complete below. Before installing a plugin there, it is best to read the reviews, check the number of downloads and when it was last updated. For example, I wouldn’t use a plugin that hasn’t had updates for a year. Not even if it hasn’t been downloaded a hundred times or has only three reviews.

1. Complianz GDPR / CCPA Cookie Consent.

A privacy notice is required and so is a cookie banner. As a banner, the one from Complianz is ideal: it is compatible with Divi and meets all the requirements of the European GDPR as well as the additional privacy regulations of a country like Belgium. You can also set them for other global privacy areas.

Downloading is free, setting it up takes a little work. Fortunately, it automatically detects the cookies that your website sets and you usually don’t have to change much yourself. Furthermore, you can also partially customize the layout of the cookie banner.

Price: free.

Want to know more about the GDPR? In this article on portrait rights, you will find more info on GDPR and AVG.

2. WP Rocket

This cache plugin is a real rocket that you can hang under your Divi website. This will turn your site into a real fighter jet. With this, I should note that it is best to keep other things in mind, such as resizing photos (preferably smaller than 200 KB), as large photos can still slow down your site. And a good host often does wonders, too.

This plugin is paid, there are also free cache plugins around. This is how Litespeed Cache what it should do, but is not always effective with Divi websites with many photos (even if they are resized)

Price: paid.

Want to know how your photos become small files? Then read here how to resize photos.

3. Really Simple SSL

Nothing like a secure website. And you recognize those by the prefix “https,” by the -s of secure. And, of course, also by the padlock you can see in your browser’s address bar. To make that happen, you can obtain an SSL or TLS certificate (certificate of encryption), then you are already in order.

Still, your website may contain mixed content, which are elements with and without https. So say http and https interchangeably. That very thing can generate problems with the visual builder and be bad for your online findability. Really Simple SSL can solve that for you.

Price: free or paid.

4. WP Code – Insert headers, Footers and Code Snippets

You can basically design a great website in Divi without using code. Still, it comes in handy on a regular basis. For example, if you want your website to be found better in Google. Then you can use the Google Search Console tool. And this tool generates a code that you have to paste into your website.

To make it easy for yourself, you can install the WP Code plugin (until recently “Insert Headers & Footers”) and then simply paste this code into the header (top piece of the website where the menu and logo usually appear). Very easy if you work with different headers on one site, then you only have to do this job once.

Price: free.

Want to know if you need to be able to code to build a web site? Read here Whether you need to be able to code.

5. Yoast

Another tool for getting found better in Google is Yoast. In fact, Yoast helps you with SEO, or search engine optimization. In Dutch search engine optimization. This plugin shows you what you did and didn’t do right through traffic lights.

This actually works well with most WordPress themes, only with Divi you have to be careful about optimizing your homepage. Yoast does not immediately recognize these. You can fix that through the “search appearance – general” tab under the homepage heading. An interesting alternative is Rank Math, some web designers swear by it.

Price: free.

Yoast is one of my favorite tools. Curious about more? Discover my favorite tools for both web design and photography here.

Conclusion

So yes, those plugins or pieces of software are definitely needed with a Divi website. If you put the above plugins on your website, then you will be in order in terms of privacy laws, make your website fast, avoid mixed content and also be easy to find through Google. Without creating conflicts with Divi!

I wish you good luck with Divi and the plugins!

Which WordPress plugin do you like to use? And why?

This article contains multiple affiliate links. Look here for more information.

About Jochem

I am Jochem Oomen, web designer and photographer. My goal is to help sustainable entrepreneurs, organizations and schools gain more customers, participants or students. I do this through sustainable web design and minimalist photography. Read more about me here.

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