Plugins are one of the essential parts of a website to make the site greater and unique as expected. If you are running a WordPress website but totally new to it, this article will help you learn more about it with the most fundamental understanding of WordPress plugins.
WordPress Plugins and Their Usage Practice
WordPress plugins are apps – pieces of software containing a group of functions to extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress website. They are written in PHP programming language and integrate with WordPress.
A plugin can be small, like WP Dark Mode to add a dark mode to the WordPress admin area, or it can be quite large, for instance, WordPress WooCommerce (one of the best WordPress eCommerce plugins).
Currently, there are many, many WordPress plugins available to improve SEO, boost performance, create galleries, add social media buttons and contact forms, and so much more. Most of the plugins are free and easily found on the WordPress.org plugin repository or from your WordPress admin area, while the rest are premium ones that are sold by individual developers/companies. Unlike the free items, those paid plugins come with support to help users solve the security and compatibility issues.
If you own a WordPress self-hosted website (i.e. a site with WordPress.org), you are allowed to upload and use plugins on your site. However, always use a well-coded plugin and avoid the bad one to not degrade your web performance. Check out its support and positive feedback, compatibility with the latest WordPress version, and approval rating from other users before installing one.
How to Install a WordPress Plugin?
As a site administrator, you can install/uninstall a plugin from the WordPress admin area and activate/deactivate it at any time you want. You can download and manually install it via an FTP client as well.
With plugin file from your desktop
Here are steps to install a WordPress plugin from your WordPress admin area. It is best for a premium plugin or a free plugin which is available in your computer.
Step 1: Go to Plugins page > Add New.
Step 2: Hit the Upload Plugin button > Choose the plugin from your device > Click Install Now. You can either activate the newly-installed plugin right after that or leave it deactivated for later activation.
Without plugin file on your desktop
It is also possible to add a plugin in the Plugins page, without you downloading it to your device before. This method is applicable to free plugins available in the WordPress Plugin Directory only.
Step 1: Go to Plugins page > Add New.
Step 2: Search for the plugin you want or type the plugin name into the Search box on the top right corner of the page.
Step 3: Click Install Now and then Activate it.
To deactivate or activate an installed plugin in your site, simply go to Plugins page in the WordPress admin area > Installed Plugins.
Now you’ve learned more about WordPress plugins. Hope you have more joy working on your website.
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