WordPress Christmas Plugins That Will Add Holiday Cheer To Your Website

Many people love decorating for Christmas. They enjoy decorating their homes and their offices. But your workspace doesn’t have to be limited to physical spaces. You can also decorate your website. This post will show you how to do just that. We will look at how to add some holiday cheer to your WordPress website this festive season with one or more awesome plugins.

While many of these focus entirely on Christmas and other holidays, there are a few here that can be used all year around. Let’s celebrate Christmas by looking at a short list of plugins to decorate your site and get into the holiday spirit. There are even a few plugins for businesses somewhere on this list. Wait, business plugins? For Christmas? You’d better check this list twice…

Countdown Clocks

How many days until Christmas? How about now? These Christmas countdown clocks give you and your readers that answer instantly.

Christmas Countdown Clock

This one adds a nice Flash Christmas countdown clock that has a lot of designs to choose from. It shows the days and hours left until Christmas. You can select the size, background colors, pictures, and animations. There are a lot of options here, but since it uses Flash, it’s not mobile-friendly.

POWr Holiday Countdown

This one is a cloud-based app that lets you create a countdown for any holiday. You can choose from several templates or you can customize the fonts, backgrounds, colors, and so forth. It is responsive. You can add it as a widget or as a shortcode to be placed in any page or post.

There are two versions: free and premium. The free edition includes logos and watermarks. Premium is $2.99 and removes the logos and watermarks, speeds up load time, and includes premium support.

Christmas Countdown Widget

This one will show Santa in your sidebar (or wherever you want to place the widget) with the number of days until Christmas printed over his beard. You can also place it in pages and posts by using a shortcode. It has a nice cartoonish look to it.

The Ultimate Countdown

This is a gorgeous responsive countdown timer that comes with many themes built in including one for Christmas that features a nice snowfall effect and your choice of four preset countdowns. It is fully customizable and gives you 200 fonts to choose from, unlimited color combinations, and you can adjust the size. You can add it to any page or post as a shortcode.

It costs $15 for use on a single product which users are not charged for.

We also recommend these top countdown timer plugins for creating countdowns of all types.

Advent Calendars

Advent calendars are a staple in many homes for the Christmas season. These plugins allow you to add them to your site.

WP Advent

This one lets you place an advent calendar on your site that will work for any event. It uses shortcodes so you can place the calendar on any page or post that you want. You can have multiple calendars for multiple years.

Advent Calendar

This one is a simple and easy to use calendar that lets you add your own images for each advent. You can bulk create a 24 day calendar all at once, and then go to each day and set a featured image. It creates a custom post type that you can then add to any page or post as a shortcode. The image will then show on that day as the advent occurs.

My-Christmas-Calendar

This plugin brings in advent calendars from advent-calendar.net. You must have an advent-calendar.net web address for the shortcode to work. They look amazing, but they are pricey. If you have an account you should be using this plugin to take full advantage of their calendars. The plugin will work with any post or page and you can set the height, width, and border size and color.

Snow

I’m dreaming of a white Christmas (yes, that just happened), but it doesn’t snow everywhere. Give your readers the gift of snow with these fun plugins.

Christmas Snow

This one adds a nice background and live snow to your website. There are 25 different types of snow to choose from. It will even let you create different types of snowflakes and then let you choose which type to show on specific pages and posts. You can choose the color, number of snowflakes, speed, rotation, size, and wind direction. It can be disabled for mobile devices as well.

This is a premium plugin. You can get it for $9 for use on a single end product which end users are not charged for. It’s $45 for a single end product which end users are charged for. It is also available in a bundle that includes Christmas Greetings and Christmas Animation.

Christmas Magic

This one has a realistic snow affect with lots of features. You can change the number of snowflakes that appear and set the snowflake’s fading opacity. It allows you to add a custom background color and image. You can also add a custom song that can be toggled on or off.

It costs $7 for use on a single product which users are not charged for, and $35 for a single product which end users can be charged for.

Xmas Snow

This plugin adds animated Christmas snow over your site. The snow will fall over the pages and posts. There are no adjustments, and it’s been a while since it was updated, but it still works great with the latest version of WordPress. This is a good choice if you just want a simple snow effect.

Tribulant Snow Storm

This one will display falling snow over the top of your website. You have a lot of options with this one. You can set the snow color, total amount of snow, falling amount of snow, animation interval, mobile support (on or off), follow mouse cursor, snow stick, melt effect, and twinkle effect. It is free.

Snow, Balloons, and More

This one allows for not only snowfall, but also leaves, balloons, lights, Santas, trees, hearts, and more. You can also add your own images to the folder and you can have anything you want falling down your screen. There is a balloon mode where objects can also float upward. You can set flake size, speed, wind strength, and much more. You can also set it to stop after so many seconds. It will start again when your visitors go to another page. The amount of settings for this free plugin is impressive.

Snow 3D

3D snow is exactly that – snow that can go in any direction, including toward and away from the reader. It covers over the website and is responsive. The snow can rotate with the mouse cursor or finger on a touch screen. There are over 200 different snowflakes. You can set the speed, direction, and how often the snow shows up. There is also a fade scroll feature so the snow disappears when readers scroll to the bottom of the page and reappears when they scroll back up. The snow affect is pretty to watch.

It costs $14 for use on a single product which end users are not charged for, and $70 for use on a single product which end user can be charged for.

5sec Snow

This is a popular plugin with lots of features and options. The snow doesn’t cover over your content, so readers won’t have to read through the snow. There are 7 flake types and 8 options for snow customization. What sets this one apart is the flakes can be turned into links. Their suggestions for using this feature is sweepstakes and easter egg games. There are effects for melting and rotating the snow. You can disable the snow on a preset date, users can disable the snow if they want, and you can disable it for mobile devices.

It costs $9 for use on a single product which end users are not charged for, and $45 for use on a single product which end user can be charged for.

Merry Christmas Everyone

Do you want an animated Santa to greet your visitors? That’s exactly what this plugin does. It also displays a colorful snowfall that appears over your site. It will also play music that you upload or provide a link for. You can choose between 2 different Santa styles and you can turn off the snow and music. It hasn’t been updated in a while, but it does work with the latest version of WordPress.

Greeting Cards

Greeting cards are a favorite at Christmas time. You can display a nice Christmas card on your site, either as a popup or within a page or post. Many of them let you add your own graphics and customizations.

Christmas Card

This one lets you choose from 9 different Christmas cards that include candy canes, bells, a Christmas tree, Santa, reindeer, snowman, Silent Night, and more. It also plays classic Christmas songs that include First Noel, Jingle Bells, Joy to the World, Silent Night, and We Wish you a Merry Christmas. There are 5 variations of 3D snow, unlimited color options, and you can change the main image to match any holiday or occasion.

It costs $17 for use on a single product which end users are not charged for, and $85 for use on a single product which end user can be charged for.

DW PopUp Card

This free plugin lets you create your very own Christmas card (or any card for that matter) and display it as a popup. It gives you a visual and text editor where you can create the card message, add media, enable snow, enable a thumbnail, upload a cover, set the size, and adjust all of the style settings. You can even add custom CSS. This one hasn’t been updated in a while. I was able to get it to work, but it might have issues displaying correctly with certain plugins or themes.

Christmas Greeting Cards

This one has 22 themes and 30 images to create your very own Christmas cards for display in your pages and posts. You can have a different card in each post. It has effects for sliding in and out, image speed and rotation, and you can adjust the size. The amount of features with this one is impressive.

It costs $6 for use with a single end product which users are not charged for, and $30 for use with a single end product which users are charged for. It’s also available in the All In One Christmas Bundle for $12/$60.

GC Message Box

This one creates a popup that will let you create any kind of message you want to display to your visitors. It’s completely configurable and includes three predefined Christmas color settings: red, green, and gold. It includes a call to action button which can be turned on or off.

It is free and compatible with WooCommerce. There are also premium extensions available for MailChimp and MailPoet.

Business Christmas Greeting Card

This is a responsive greeting card for businesses that includes social sharing buttons for Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and LinkedIn. It has a clickable cover and opens to reveal your message. It is fully customizable so you can choose the cover and inside design. You can even include your company logo. It comes with a free music file that visitors can turn on or off. It includes the PSD files, too,  so you can customize further if you want.

It costs $10 for use with a single end product which users are not charged for, and $50 for use with a single end product which users are charged for.

WordPress eCards

Rather than showing a card on your website, this one lets your visitors send an e-card to their friends. You can implement it within a post, page, or widget. You can embed any image from a JPEG, animated GIF, or PNG. Other features include member-only restrictions, PayPal shortcodes, and custom PayPal buttons.

It costs $14 for use with a single end product which users are not charged for, and $70 for use with a single end product which users are charged for.

Christmas Lights

Virtual Christmas lights are hard to find online. You could always display a picture, even in a popup, but that’s just a picture. Here’s a plugin that lets you decorate your site with lights.

Xmas Lights

This one will add an animated string of Christmas lights to the top of your website. There are no adjustments, but it looks great. I was reluctant to include this one since it hasn’t been updated I a while, but I tried it and it works fine. And it’s free, so you can’t beat that.

Misc

Here are a few plugins that don’t really fall into any of the primary categories defined above.

Hello Christmas

This one works just like Hello Dolly, except it places random lyrics from Christmas songs in the upper right hand corner of your admin screen. It only works if Christmas is less than 40 days away. It will not override Hello Dolly, so you’ll have to deactivate it while Hello Christmas is activated.

WP Christmas Class

This is one of the more unique Christmas plugins. It allows you to define a custom CSS class that will automatically turn on according to a date range that you choose. You can use it at any time for any purpose. Simply choose your color scheme, such as red and green for Christmas, and then choose your date range (for ex: 12/1 – 12/26), and the look and feel of your website will change during those dates.

WP Scheduled Themes

With this free plugin you can schedule when a specific theme goes live. You can use it to set a Christmas theme, or any theme for any holiday or purpose. It’s easy to use. Scheduled Theme will be one of your choices in your Appearance list. You choose your theme from the drop-down box, set the start and end date, and choose if you want it to be yearly. You can schedule as many themes as you want.

Christmas Animation

This adds a nice Christmas animation to your website. There are 30 Christmas images to choose from. You can place them on pages and posts, and have a different one for each. You control the image and rotation speed, and adjust the effect for sliding in and out of the screen.

It costs $8 for use with a single end product which users are not charged for, and $40 for use with a single end product which users are charged for. It’s also available in the All In One Christmas Bundle for $12/$60.

GC Message Bar

Another nice way to greet your readers with a Christmas message is by using a message bar. This one goes across the top of your header and displays any type of message you want. This is a great place to say Merry Christmas! It has a button that can also be used as a call to action so you can promote holiday-themed products. It is fully customizable and it even includes three predefined Christmas color sets: red, green, and gold.

It’s free, easy to use, and compatible with WooCommerce. There are also pro extensions available for MailChimp and MailPoet.

Business

Okay, it’s not all about fun and games. There are also plugins to help you as a business owner during the holiday season. This is when life can get hectic and we need all the help we can get. Here are a few plugins to help you with your business operations during Christmas—or any—holiday season.

WooCommerce Dynamic Pricing & Discounts

This plugin will help boost your sales during the Christmas season (or any sales event) by allowing you to set up discounts and pricing combinations for specific dates and times. There is an unlimited amount of pricing rules because you can edit them any way you want.

Here are a few examples of pricing rules:

• Buy 10 get 5% discount
• Buy between 2 and 5 units get 10% discount
• With each desktop computer get wireless keyboard with 50% discount
• Spend at least $1000 get 15% discount
• Get a free iPhone case with each iPhone purchase
• Get $5 discount from category Clothing
• Everything for $9 until midnight if you purchase at least 3 items
• 5% lifetime discount after your 10th order, 10% after 50^th, etc.
• VIP club members get 25% cart discount on all items

You can literally set up any dynamic pricing scheme you can imagine.

It costs $25 for use with a single end product which users are not charged for, and $125 for use with a single end product which users are charged for.

WooCommerce Gift Manager

This plugin lets you set rules to manage your own gift items. You can give gifts to your visitors based on criteria that you set. You can set a message on your shopping cart page and as a popup. You can use this to set up gifts from your own inventory for any holiday. Gifts can be physical or digital.

Allows gifts based on:

• Multiple subtotals
• Categories
• Number of categories
• Total quantity
• A particular product

It costs $18 for use with a single end product which users are not charged for, and $90 for use with a single end product which users are charged for.

Wrapping Up

Decorating your site can be just as fun as decorating your home or office. With these plugins you can decorate your site in a snap, spread some holiday cheer, and wish your visitors a warm and Merry Christmas!

How about you? Do you decorate your website for Christmas or any other holidays? Did I leave out your favorite Christmas plugin? I’d like to hear about it in the comments!

Article thumbnail image by Marish / shutterstock.com