What is WordPress JetPack and how to configure it on my website

Hosting Mautic QuickStart -50% with support in Spanish
24 hours and free training

Send up to 1,000,000 emails/year. Mautic support in Spanish 24 hours, 365 days

Would you like to have a plugin on your website that meets several of your needs? In this article I will tell you about Jet Pack for WordPresswhich may meet all those requirements you are looking for.

This need lies in the fact that, when we first install a WordPress website, there are already quite a few decisions that we have had to make.

Among others, we must make the following decisions:

The name of our domain.
The hosting provider to host it.
The content manager that we will use (WordPress, in this case).
The theme (“theme”) that will give our website its appearance.
The settings for this theme.
The pages that the website will have and its first content.

However, it doesn’t take long for us to realize that neither WordPress nor the chosen theme offer just some of the functionality that we need or would like to incorporate into the website and offer to our users.

This is when we look at the over 53,000 plugins currently available for WordPress, many of them offering similar functionality to one another. This makes making the best choice no easy task…

In this situation, WordPress JetPack offers a comprehensive solutionwhich I will break down for you in this article.

This plugin incorporates most of the features that a blog or a small or medium website may need.

But, if you haven’t heard of it yet, I’ll tell you what it is about first:

What is JetPack WordPress?

the plugin Jet Pack for WordPress it is a software complement, which adds a new functionality to this content manager or extends one that it already has. This is possible thanks to the open platform philosophy of WordPress and its programming interface.

For example, this CMS does not include, in its standard installation, a file browser for the hosting server. However, it is possible to install a plugin that provides this functionality integrated within the control panel (“dashboards”).

JetPack WordPress is nothing more than a plugin but, due to the diversity of its services and functions and the possibility of activating and configuring them separately, it is more than that and could be considered as a plugin plugin or a mega-plugin.

In the same way that an office suite or office package (such as Microsoft Office) has various applications, such as Word, Excel or Outlook, that work separately, JetPack has a set of modules, independent of each other and with different functions each. one.

Main advantages of JetPack for WordPress

Have in a single product the basic functionalities that most websites may need during their first months of life, and even beyond the first year.
modular organization of the functionalities, so that they can be done depending on what we need at any given time, thus reducing the consumption of server resources (memory and processor).
Have within the WordPress control panel a common configuration interface and management for all modules, which facilitates the task of administration and reduces the learning curve.
JetPack for WordPress has a free version, with a large part of the functions that a website or blog with medium features may need.
It is developed by the same company that develops the WordPress content manager, so integration and compatibility with this platform, along with user support, are guaranteed.
can be install third-party plugins when the functionalities of similar modules are not sufficient for our interests or that plugin is better suited to our interests, simply by deactivating the corresponding module.
It has , free version included, to cover different levels of services and functionalities, depending on the characteristics and requirements of the website.

Disadvantages of JetPack WordPress Plugin

The default installation of this mega plugin has activated many modules that are not always necessary. After installation, it is convenient to review all the modules and only leave those that we are going to use.
If too many modules are activated, it can put a significant workload on the overall operation of the hosting server and negatively affect its performance. In general, you should try to only activate those modules that are really necessary.
For its operation, JetPack for WordPress requires to be registered and connected to the web. Without being a serious aspect, it can be inconvenient for some users, since it allows access to our website from wordpress.com. Although there are tricks to bypass this registration, some modules will not work without this registration.
Typically, specialized plugins offer more features and possibilities than the corresponding modules that have similar functions. Sometimes, you will have to combine the use of JetPack with other plugins to compensate for these deficiencies.
Some of the most useful plugins are not available in the free version, which forces you to look for other free solutions for those cases or purchase a paid plan.
We may find ourselves in a scenario where we have several specialized plugins installed instead of using some modules, which should make us think about the appropriateness of continuing to use it and having only specialized plugins instead.

What is this mega plugin for?

With what we have seen so far and given the variety of its modules, a quick answer to this question could be “for almost everything”.

But it would be quite an exaggeration and the answer would have to be specified.

Actually, JetPack for WordPress serves to cover the functional needs of most personal blogs, a large part of specialized blogs and even corporate blogs.

The same thing happens with websites. Corporate websites, especially SMEs, and as long as they do not offer specialized services (such as an electronic commerce platform or private access areas), they can benefit from their features, without having to resort to various plugins or hire custom solutions.

But to have a better idea of what we can do with this plugin, we are going to review its functionalities below, following the same grouping that JetPack does in its configuration panel.

Block “Writing”

From a content point of view, this block may be the most interesting for the blogger or website owner, as it allows them to improve the presentation of their texts and images to users:

Acceleration of images and photos, through the “Photon” utility from wordpress.com, which improves the speed of website navigation and frees up part of the hosting server’s resources, improving its performance to manage web pages more efficiently.
Advanced navigation of image galleries, with the possibility of a carousel or infinite scroll, aimed at blogs or websites with a lot of visual content, such as those dedicated to photography.
Incorporation of specific areas to include testimonials and display portfolios. Both features are very useful for corporate websites, which often include this type of content.

In addition, this block allows incorporating extended functions for editing textual content.

However, the usefulness of these functions is limited, since it is almost always more convenient and efficient to edit the contents in a word processor.

Sharing block

This block is very interesting for blogs, as it includes tools to encourage user participation and post sharing:

When a post is published on the blog, automatically publish it on the Social Networks that are configured.
Add sharing buttons to posts, so that users can share them on their Social Network accounts.
Add “Like” buttons to posts, which measures the interest of users in our content and encourages other users to feel more motivated to read them.

A corporate website, normally, will not find utility in this type of services, unless it includes a blog and the owner is willing to maintain a fairly active dynamic through its publications.

“Discussion” block

Another block also aimed at blogs. In this case, it favors the participation of users through the comments of the posts, allowing them to adopt a more active attitude:

Allow the use of various accounts (wordpress.com or social networks) to authenticate and leave a comment on the posts.
Add a “Like” button to comments, which allows users to quickly identify which ones have raised the most interest.
Subscribe to blog posts and comments, so that the user receives an email every time a new post is published or a new comment is added to a post they are following. Very useful to get a user to visit us again.

“Traffic” block

Various organic positioning optimization (SEO) tools are included in this block. However, most require the hiring of a payment plan.

Due to this, this block is reduced to only two functionalities:

The ability to add and highlight links to related content after each blog post. This feature encourages users to stay on our website, since they can find more content of interest to them.
Creation of XML sitemaps, recommended to facilitate the tracking of the website by search engines. However, as we will see later, this function should be better relied on specialized plugins.

“Security” block

With this block we can strengthen the security of our website against external attacks or virus infections and other types of malware, as well as make copies of…