The holiday season is here – my favorite time of year! I always appreciate the time to focus on family, giving, and love during the holidays. Decorations are a big part of many people’s holidays. But did you know that you can also decorate your website for the holidays? You can use fun holiday plugins to ‘deck the pages’ of your WordPress website.
With WordPress, adding holiday visual elements through simple plugins is easy. Best of all, many of these plugins are free! Adding a festive touch to your website with holiday-themed elements like snowflakes, candies, and stars can bring joy and delight to your visitors. To help you get started, here is a list of my top 5 holiday plugins for the 2023 season.
My Top 5 Holiday Plugins for the 2023 holiday season!
Here is my list of my top 5 plugins for this season…
1) Weather Effect – Christmas, Santa, Snow Falling, Snowflake Effect
by A WP Life
The Weather Effect WordPress plugin adds seasonal charm to websites. It includes falling elements like leaves, snowflakes, candies, stars, and more to fit a particular season or holiday. This simple plugin brings websites a festive touch and will delight visitors. You can use this plugin for various weather-related seasons and holidays. Learn more here: https://wordpress.org/plugins/weather-effect/
2) WP Snow – Best Snow Effect Plugin
by Ironikus
Liven up your WordPress website during the holidays with a charming snow animation. This plugin is similar to the last one but only displays snow. However, it allows you to use different snowflake icons, customize text, and much more. We haven’t tried it yet, but give it a whirl. Learn more here: https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-snow/
3) We’re Open!
by Noah Hearle, Design Extreme
This isn’t exactly a holiday plugin, but it’s a simple way to update your holiday business hours. The “We’re Open” plugin allows you to quickly add your business hours to your website and customize how those hours are displayed. The main benefit of this plugin is that you can hook it up with Google My Business. Learn more here: https://wordpress.org/plugins/opening-hours/
Here is an example of how it looks:
Monday: 9.00am – 5.00pm
Tuesday: 9.00am – 5.00pm
Wednesday: 9.00am – 5.00pm
Thursday: 9.00am – 5.00pm
Friday: 9.00am – 5.00pm
Saturday: Closed
Sunday: Closed
4) Christmas Countdown Widget
by Monica Haught
The countdown starts over every year and begins the day after Christmas. This means you can keep it in your sidebar all year long (if you want). This Christmas Countdown Widget works with any theme because it appears on a transparent background. Learn more here: https://wordpress.org/plugins/santas-christmas-countdown/
5) Instant Images – Find Holiday Images Quickly
by Darren Cooney
The final plugin is not just for holidays but is particularly useful this time of year. Instant Images allows you to upload high-quality holiday images from stock photo sites directly to your WordPress media library. Learn more here: https://wordpress.org/plugins/instant-images/
And….Bonus Christmas Holiday Plugin
Random Christmas Fact Widget
by Monica Haught
Do you like fun facts? Then, this is the plugin for you! The Random Christmas Fact Widget displays one of 40 random Christmas facts in your sidebar each time a visitor refreshes the page. No CSS code is necessary; it blends in perfectly with your sidebar. Learn more here: https://wordpress.org/plugins/random-christmas-fact-widget/
And…Do You Like to Cook During the Holidays?
The holidays are here, traditionally when more people are cooking and baking at home. And if you like to cook, I have an article about a recipe plugin and how to add recipes to your website. Whether you’re a food blogger or a cooking enthusiast like me, adding recipes to your website can be really fun!
I’ve tried other recipe plugins in the past, but this one simplifies adding recipes to your website. Try out the free version first. If you want more choices, visit https://christinasresources.com/wprecipemaker to buy the pro version.
That’s a Wrap!
As we wrap up this article, I hope you’re excited to add a festive touch to your WordPress website for the holidays. This season is a time for joy, family, and giving. Why not extend that warm spirit to your virtual home, too? With these fun and easy-to-use plugins, you can make your website come alive with the magic of the holidays. Think of these plugins as online decorations for your website. Plus, many of them are free!
I have a word of caution, though. Downloading anything from the internet can be a risky business. Always install free plugins from inside your WordPress dashboard because they will come directly from WordPress.org. Before buying premium plugins, make sure to research and evaluate the company you’re buying from.
If you have any favorite holiday traditions for your business, share them in the comments!
(Originally published Dec 2017, Updated Dec 2023)
Note that this plugin has been removed
https://wordpress.org/plugins/powr-holiday-countdown/ and should not be used