WordPress Jetpack: Overview of important functions

The Jetpack plugin offers over 30 functions and is the Swiss knife for WordPress for some users. We give you an overview of the most important features of Jetpack.

1. Share buttons for social networks and more with Jetpack

To make your WordPress content known, social network buttons are an indispensable tool. The Jetpack plugin offers numerous options here.

• For the most important social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, Pinterest, WhatsApp or LinkedIn, you can add “share buttons” to your page.
• The print option and the Skype button are also interesting.
• You can define the style of the buttons as well as the posts on which they should appear.
• With the "official buttons", however, the data protection minds differ: This allows user data to be transmitted to Facebook, for example, without being asked.
• With "Subscriptions", there is also no verification of the email address when a comment is sent. This could accidentally land people in the distribution list.

2. Publish: Automate posts with Jetpack for WordPress

If you don't want to trust that visitors share your content, you can use the "Publish" feature to automatically post your posts on Facebook & Co.

• Posts are optionally posted on Facebook, Twitter, Path, Google Plus, LinkedIn and Tumbler.
• All you have to do is connect your blog to the desired pages using the plugin.

3. Mobile Theme: Automatic customization with Jetpack

The correct display of a website on mobile devices is an important factor.

• If you are not already using a responsive theme, this feature automatically adjusts your page for mobile display with just one click.
• However, there are not many options for this feature. You can only specify whether full articles or only teasers are shown on the mobile homepage and whether pictures are to be shown or hidden.

4. Photon: Automatic image adjustment via Jetpack

The photon function does a lot of work for you with just one click.

• If you activate this feature, it automatically adjusts the dimensions of the images to the respective display size.
• The images are no longer sent from the web space of your provider to the browser, but from a so-called Content Delivery Network (CDN). This noticeably reduces loading times.
• The disadvantage: the images cannot be deleted from the photon cache. If you remove an image from your page, it remains in the photon cache. This can be particularly problematic if you have to delete an image for legal reasons.

5. Tiled galleries: an eye-catcher for your WodPress site

With the "Tiled Galleries" feature, your galleries become a real highlight for every block.

• You create your galleries in WordPress as usual, but when you activate the feature you still get the "Type" option.
• This gives you the choice between five display variants: mosaic tiles, tile images structured in columns, square tiles, circular previews or slideshows.
• The "Tiled Galleries" use the Photon technology to generate and deliver the thumbnails - even if you have not activated Photon at all.

6. Similar contributions: The reader is guided with Jetpack

Links within a page keep readers on your blog.

• The "Similar Posts" function automatically puts thematically appropriate posts under an article.
• You can specify whether only the teaser or an image should be displayed.

7. Contact form: This feature should not be missing in WordPress

A contact form is a must for every website.

• You can use this function to create any forms.
• If required, you can supplement the input fields with selection lists for ticking or dropdown menus.

8. Protect and Monitor: Security for WordPress

WordPress sites are particularly vulnerable to hacking.

• The "Protect" module protects your site from automated login attempts by hackers and bots.
• For this purpose, the feature compares the IP address with a database of known botnets and attackers during a login and prevents login if necessary.
• So that you do not have any problems with your own login, you can whitelist your IP address from the process.
• Data protection comes into play again by querying the IP address: Don't forget to include a corresponding note in your data protection declaration.

The functions of a website are one thing, the look is another. For the latter, we have put together the five best OnePager themes for WordPress.