As I understand it, any posts asking for plugin recommendations are considered off-topic.
I can agree with the reasoning behind this and am not protesting in the least. But does anyone have any recommendations for other forums (within SE or somewhere external) where it would be appropriate to ask for plugin recommendations?
Users and mods are both right here. Asking for plugin recommendations will end up having endless open questions filled with plugins that not always are verified. This can also open a space for spam, since mods can't check each link or plugin and verify if it's safe (if not on the repository). So, to prevent StackExchange from becoming an Ad-house, this is necessary.
While there is no official way or silver bullet, there are some... some ways that can be helpful.
Since Quora has less strict rules about these, you can consider it a place which you might be able to find what you are looking for. It's not as expert-ish as SE, but it can help.
WP Beginners is a well known website that had tremendous amount of articles about plugins. Sometimes they even offer both plugin based and code based solutions, in a single article. While I don't like plugin based answers personally, it can be life saving in some cases.
Yes, it's as simple as that. There is a search feature in the repository itself, that is overlooked most of the times. Looking through the tags is quick, and you can safely choose a plugin based on ratings and reviews.
This is another place to ask your WordPress based questions. As they claim, no question is considered bad on the support forums, but still they have their own "How To Ask a Good Question". Take a look into it, and strive toward happiness.
Software Recommendations SE has a tag wordpress, but it's not very active.
Another option is the WordPress Google+ Community. Asking for plugin recommendations is welcome there.
Generally, wherever you ask: Don't expect too many good answers and lots of self-promotion.
There are many such places on the net, however, almost all are biased to some extent. Trying yourself is the best. Sometimes even asking someone you trust on a personal level will result in some sort of bias. So no, there is no concrete place for that.
Having said that, apart from the recommendations others have made already, I'm got some solid help from this Facebook group: WordPress Plugin Suggestions.
P.S. this answer is a bit biased as well, as I'm a member of that group ;)
