The Hello Dolly plugin is about one of the oldest plugins in WordPress, and is usually one of the few default plugins offered with WordPress. It’s a plugin built by Matt Mullenweg, the co-founder of WordPress.
The plugin simply rotates quotes lyrics from the song “Hello Dolly” by Louis Armstrong in the top right of the WordPress administration area. For WordPress plugin developers in particular, this plugin is a great basic start for learning how to build a plugin.
If you click on the image below, it will open up in a lightbox so you can view a larger verson, and see what the Hello Dolly plugin does.
For the rest of the world, well, it may not serve much use unless you enjoy the song. Some have even called it worthless, but personally, it’s not worthless. Even I started somewhere on trying to understand the basics of a WordPress plugin a long time ago (seriously… a LONG TIME AGO.)
Throughout the years, I’ve seen a lot of Hello Dolly plugin alternativess. I’ve gone to the WordPress Plugin repository and found a few that you may want to possibly use for fun.
5 Really Cool Hello Dolly Plugin Alternatives
Hello Simpsons Chalkboard Gag – If you love the Simpsons, then this one might be fun to see.
Bollywood Dialogues – Lover of Bollywood movies? Then this one is for you.
Trekkie Fortunes – If you’re a Star Trek fan, then you may like this Hello Dolly alternative plugin.
Hello Samuel L. Jackson – Personally, this one is one of my favorites, and very funny.
Hello Kurt – Remember Kurt Cobain and the band Nirvana? This plugin randomly puts out lyrics from the song, “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”
There are many other Hello Dolly plugin alternatives out there that I haven’t listed. Have you used any of these, or is there a Hello Dolly plugin alternative that you like better?
I love the Simpson’s gag. I’ve been watching them since they were a skit on the Tracey Ullman show.
I’ve had the Hello Dolly plugin since I first started blogging back in 2001 lol. I didn’t even know there were alternatives but I’m going to check them out. Thanks so much for sharing, it will be fun to see some new script in my dashboard.
Probably heard of the song, not the plugin. WordPress wasn’t around in 2001. 😉
I’ve never tried that. I’ll be sure to check this out. Thank you for sharing.
I didn’t even realize I had Hello Dolly but of course I did! I had to check as soon as I saw this. How fun, I’ll have to take a look at it. I had no idea about this plugin, I’m so behind I think!
I have not heard of the Hello Dolly plug in before. This sounds like a fun plug in for word press.
These look like great plugins. I will have to check them out and see if they are good for me.
how funny! I never thought to replace hello dolly. My silly butt just deleted it.
I don’t have a wordpress so I am missing out on cool plugins like these! Hello Dolly sounds like a fun one to have!
Never heard of the Hello Dolly Plugin until now. It looks pretty interesting. I’ll go check it out. It might be something that I could use.
Ah these are so cool! I really like the sound of the Hello Kurt plugin. I’m a huge Nirvana fan 🙂
HI Nile – this is interesting – I’ll have to research what, when and how to use them to my benefit so my visitors can enjoy – thank you 🙂
These are more about you enjoying them, rather than your visitors, as the quotes show in the WordPress backend.
I remember the Hello Dolly plugin from back when I had my novel based blog on wordpress years ago. I would of loved to have changed it up, I probably would of went with the Nirvana lyric one.
omg wow!!!! These plugins sounds pretty awesome for those who have word press! I do not have word press and really need to make a switch to it one of these days….
All the years I have been on WP and I have never bothered to really figure out what Hello Dolly was about. I just knew it was not something I needed and always deleted it right away. I am digging the Kurt Cobain and Samuel L Jackson. That is hilarious.
This is a plugin I have heard of before and had no idea what it was for. Thanks for shedding light on that. =)
Those are some really cool plugins! I’d be keen on the Star Trek one or the Samuel L Jackson one!
Honestly, I have never heard of the Hello Dolly plugin. Personally, I think I’d like the Samuel L. Jackson one more! 🙂
I’ve never downloaded any of those. After my web host created my WP site, the Hello Dolly plugin was already there when I logged in. I didn’t think I would use it so I deleted it. 🙂
I started to use the Hello Dolly plugin in 2009 when I launched my first blog using WP.
As an alternative, I choose Trekkie Fortunes because I’m a huge Star Trek fan.
That is good to know if you have WordPress! I just recently switched and am learning a lot about it!
Oddly enough, I dont think I have that plugin! Which is super weird! Now I want it!
I had Hello Dolly forever. I just deleted it recently. I didn’t know there were alternatives. How fun!
I had Hello Dolly forever. I just deleted it recently. I didn’t know there were alternatives. How fun!
first of all never heard about this Hello Dolly plugin but it looks interesting and alternatives are also funny especially Samuel Jackson. Thanks for this sharing Nile
Hello NIle, This is funny I was just helping a friend set up here WP site and of course we went over the plugins to add, She asked me what this Hello Dolly Plugin was that (Like you have started was there by default)
Anyways I told her I had no idea and I deleted it. I am going to send her here to read this post.
I guess I should have stopped by last week when you wrote if I would have then known what is was..
LOL Thanks for sharing… Chery :))
These look like great plugins. I’ll be sure to check this out. Thank you for sharing!
These are wonderful addition to my list of plugins – thanks.
I am one of those who was not aware of the Hello Dolly plugin , I checked and I do have it. Thanks for sharing this information. I will check out the alternatives as well.
I don’t remember ever seeing that plugin before — or at least, not for a long time. Where have I been?? Thanks for posting these fun alternatives.
What is the use of Holly Dolly Plugin i didn’t know why it is preloaded to a fresh wp installation ?
Thanx for sharing this great information. I also have a wordpress blog about nail art and I am worried about its loading speed. can you please share your experience about increasing wordpress blog loading speed? Thanx
Hi Nile, you’ve cleared up a mystery for me! I wondered why that plugin existed, but never cared enough to do some research and find out.
Never knew about the Welcome Dolly Plugin as of recently. It looks really intriguing. I’ll go look at it. It may be something that I could utilize.
The hello dolly plugin didn’t grind me nicely so I deleted it… considering Hello Simpsons though
Hello Dolly is a great plugin. I’ve been using it on my site since a month ago and I just love it. However , I did’nt know that there is also a alternative of it. I’ll sure use it on my site. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Hey Nile, I didn’t know about any of these plugins! I am a big fan of Star Trek and Samuel L. Jackson so I will have to check these two plugins out. Thanks for sharing!
I had never heard of the song nor the plugin. Sounds like a fun easter egg.
Thanks for sharing these plugins. I will have to check them out and see if they will work for me.
To be honest, The first thing i do after installing wordpres is, Deleting hello dolly plugin.LOL
I personally recommend Hello Kurt. It works very great and also looks simple and professional
I dint know that there are alternative to hello dolly plugin. First time I have found an article about it. You have provided some interesting alternatives. I am looking forward to try these out soon.
This is very funny. I like the Simpsons gag and the idea of having a fun Easter egg on my website. thanks for sharing.
I never knew it offered ANY functionality whatsoever. I learned something new today!
Hi Nile
Actually I haven’t used Hello Dolly plugin But I loved your share.
Thanks for sharing these alternatives. It will help others bloggers who might be looking for hello dolly alternatives.
Have a nice weekend. 😀
I also have an alternative called Hello WP User, which rotates WordPress tips, like blogging, WordPress user tips, backup reminders, and security.
hey hi thanks for sharing new plugin never knew about this type of plugins sure will try.
Heyya.., ’ve never downloaded any of those..What is the use of Holly Dolly Plugin i didn’t know why it is preloaded to a fresh wp installation ??
I never knew that there was a story behind the Hello Dolly plugin. Like others, I just thought it was a useless plugin and I didn’t understand why it was being installed as a default plugin. I think it’s so funny that there are alternatives to this plugin. Hello Samuel L. Jackson, now that’s hilarious! The Hello Kurt plugin may actually be pretty cool though. 🙂