Earlier this year WordPress introduced the Jetpack plugin to WordPress.org users. It gives self hosted WordPress.org users access to new functionalities previously enjoyed by WordPress.com users, without any loss of control.
Jetpack provides features like WordPress stats, Twitter widgets, support for shortcodes and Sharedaddy sharing buttons in just one click, all nicely contained in one place on your Dashboard. At this time, all of Jetpack’s plugins are free, though Automattic notes that some future features may require payment.
Jetpack for WordPress has been rolled out with the following functions free to use:
Gravatar Hovercards
Show sa pop-up business card of your users’ gravatar profiles in comments. Hovercards enhance plain Gravatar images with information about a person: name, bio, pictures, their contact info, and other services. Simply mouse over their image in the comments section and the hovercard will appear.
WordPress.com Stats
WordPress.com Stats has been our preferred Statistic plugin for ages. Now a part of Jetpack, it displays the most popular metrics in an easy to understand manner with no additional load on your server.
Twitter Widget
Shows your latest twitter updates within a sidebar on your theme.
After the Deadline
Adds spell, style, and grammar checking to WP, and provides a number of customization options.
LaTeX
Use the LaTex markup language for writing complex mathematical equations and formulas.
Sharedaddy
Makes sharing content across Social Media platforms easy with social sharing buttons for Facebook, Twitter, and many more underneath your posts.
WP.me Shortlinks
Enable WP.me-powered shortlinks for all of your Posts and Pages for easier sharing using the incredibly compact wp.me domain name.
Shortcode Embeds
Enter a shortcode directly into the Post/Page editor to embed media to easily embed videos and more from sites like YouTube, Vimeo, and SlideShare.
Some of the plugins contained within Jetpack aren’t new to the WordPress community and have been around in stand alone form for quite some time. Take care and test thoroughly when adding Jetpack to existing live sites as it may cause some compatibility issues with existing plugins.
