Depending on whether or not certain functions get added to the core, for me, the essentials are:
If basic SEO features are built into the core, then instead of SEO, I’d also like to see:
But I could go on. It all depends on the type of site. I’ve also not included ecommerce as I’d imagine this falls under a separate topic.
My essentials:
Other - Specific to my own workflow for some sites:
Interesting question. As other have mentioned, it varies with different websites. And, if possible, I always prefer to code something rather than use a plugin. I can only think of four (there are others, but they are specific to only one site):
[Edit: Actually I could add a fifth. An image slider. I hate the things but clients still want them.]
Thanks for the replies. 
I’ve looked at the must-haves list and see a few that inspire me more than others. Since the list isn’t prioritized, it’s not clear which of those functionalities are the most needed/desired.The intent of this thread is to get an idea about that. Granted, this is a small sample size, but, I’m hoping that trends will emerge here, allowing myself (or any other plugin developer who happens along the thread) to say, “hey, it looks like there’s more interest in a plugin for ________ and I can totally do that!”
P.S. This isn’t a time-limited thread – please don’t be shy to add your top 5 functionalities to help plugin developers better plan to meet the greatest needs. And, if you have any ideas on how to get this post out to more people, please don’t hesitate.
Yes, I thought that might be your thinking. Where to go next?
Here’s a crazy idea… what about if CP focuses on paid plugins? Forget all this freebie stuff that everyone expects (demands?) with WordPress. Just put out business-grade, premium plugins that are well supported and give people like you, John, some incentive to actually maintain them and get a basic income for your troubles. Surely people who want a '“business-grade CMS” should be willing to pay a small amount to support that?
I certainly wouldn’t complain if paid plugins were dominant, though I suspect it might stifle or otherwise slow growth. I’m fine with the free MVP model and offering paid extensions to keep inline with legacy expectations. However, because ClassicPress is a business-focused CMS, I am working toward a target market who make a living building websites. Still, I’ll always have a good deal of free plugins, too, so even those who are operating on minimal or no budget can have some Code Potent under the hood.
Oh, and…just to clarify: at least for me, anything that has my name or brand on it… is incentive enough to maintain it.
It’s a nice sentiment. But it doesn’t pay the bills. 
Top 5, and these could/should all be paid plugins:
P.S. If you are looking for needs and opportunities, think about region-depending features. Most of the top plugins have issues in this area. Supporting local search engines, local social networks, language-specific settings etc. It’s a common case when plugin offers share links for Twitter and Facebook but knows nothing about VK (~100 millions active users per month, 77% of local mobile traffic) or Viber (~ 1billion of registered, ~100 millions active users per month). I guess, there are plenty of alternatives in different regions. Considering this may be a nice benefit, probably the most realistic way to compete old players.
For the type of website that I need the most essential plugins are those who improve the functionality of my galleries.
Then it comes the safety but then again I don’t rely that much on plugins for this.
I make the SEO manually so I’m not that much interested in the related plugins either.
Most used among my sites:
In general PWA are getting fast a nice market, and WP is going to have a standardized way for dealing with het service worker.
I’ve just been thinking about this again and looking through all my sites to see what I am using. It occurs to me that “must-have” plugins have two levels of “must-haveness” (I’m thinking about this from the business-focused angle).
There are plugins that are vital to your business - if the plugin breaks or goes haywire then you will immediately start losing business, and therefore losing money. So the obvious example is e-commerce… you don’t want your online shop to stop working, ever. Another example is a contact form. You don’t want business enquiries to not reach you for some reason - you might miss a deal and it could lose you money.
But the second level is plugins that are not critical to your business. A slider on the home page for example. If it stops sliding, probably no-one will notice. If it shows an image-not-found icon it’s no big deal. People can still do business with you.
So when looking at which “must-have” plugins to work on, it may be worth thinking about this and starting with the ones that are more “business-critical”.
Thanks for your additional thoughts on this. Totally agree. This is why I’m primarily interested in hearing from those who build sites for others as a business – they will have seen requirements patterns that single-site-owners wouldn’t be as privy to. Of course, this is a very, very small sample size, so, a bit of guesswork and luck will also be involved.
My 5:
My 5.
Many of my Guten-free clients use some sort of page builder (or advanced editor) as well, but I didn’t include that because it varies greatly by client/site. Security is present in various forms, but that also varies greatly by setup and site.
I am fortunate that none of my clients give a damn about the GDPR. I always ask them about it, though!
I really appreciate your responses, everyone – thanks! And, just to clarify, this thread isn’t “over” … if you came late to the show, you can still add your list of needs here. And, please do!
As ClassicPress aims to be a business-focused CMS, it’s really important that we (3rd party devs) understand your business requirements. Without this, we can only go by “general business requirements” and this leaves a lot of room for interpretation…and a lot of room to miss the mark.
Thanks again for your thoughts and participation!
1- SEO - ClassicSEO is excellent
2- Cache/Redis - The super cloudflare cache does an excellent service
3- Security- Shield Security is very good
The most important thing is to keep the core as it currently stands.
A specific plugin to insert the verification of meta tags, from the various search engines, this alone is nothing more.
1- Caching (lscache when I’m on a ols/ls server, wp fastest cache otherwise)
2- Fast velocity minify/Autoptimize/others like that
3- Database optimization/cleanup (advanced database cleaner, etc)
4-File manager (I usually use Filister)
5- Fluent SMTP(sadly WP only)