Starting a website might feel overwhelming but once you’ve got the basics right it is fairly simple. WordPress is a popular Content Management System powering over 38% of all the websites on the web. If you’re just starting out, here is a quick guide to help you start your blog on WordPress in 6 easy steps.
Once you’ve set up your WordPress website you’ll realise that WordPress offers various customisation options to design and enhance the look and feel of your website. One of the easiest ways to add functionalities to your website without coding is through plugins. This brings us to the next question you may have, what is a plugin and how to install a WordPress plugin?
What is a Plugin?
A plugin is a software component that can easily be added to a WordPress website. With the help of a plugin, you can add diverse functionalities to your website without the hassle of coding. These functionalities can vary from website design, integrating SEO, social sharing icons, email subscriber list, featured posts, creating a contact form, and much more.
There are several thousand plugins available today, and the number keeps on increasing. One way to categorise plugins is the cost viz. free and premium plugins. Most plugins, however, support both – a free version, with an option to upgrade to the paid version offering additional features.
WordPress Plugins can easily be found in the WordPress plugins repository and also on additional 3rd party websites. We will cover this in more detail as we proceed.
Next, we move to the decision making phase. With plenty of plugins available, how do you decide which ones to choose?
Here is a quick checklist that you can use to make sure your plugins are safe:
- The plugin ratings. Higher the rating, chances are the better it is
- Read the reviews
- The number of installs, and the last updated date (the more recent the plugin is updated, the better it is)
- See if the plugin offers support
- Go through the FAQs and tutorial section of the plugin
Now that we’re done with understanding the basics of plugins, let us dive in and understand how to install WordPress plugins on your website.
How to Install WordPress Plugins
There are two ways to install plugins to your WordPress website viz.
- Through your WordPress Dashboard
- Downloading from 3rd-party Websites and Uploading
We will cover both these techniques in detail. Let us begin with the first way:
One: Through your WordPress Dashboard
Step 1: Login to your WordPress dashboard
Step 2: Navigate to ‘Plugins’ in the main menu
Step 3: Select ‘Add New’
You can search for plugins based on several categories like ‘Featured’, ‘Popular’, ‘Recommended’ and ‘Favourites’. Otherwise, you can also search via a ‘Keyword’, ‘Author’, or ‘Tag’. Basically, this helps you find a plugin of your choice easily.
Step 4: Click on the ‘Install’ button
Step 5: After the plugin has been installed, click on the ‘Activate’ button
Step 6: After the plugin has been activated it is time to configure the plugin
Your plugin has been installed successfully! You can find your plugin in the ‘Installed Plugins’ section.
Two: Downloading from 3rd-party Websites and Uploading
This method is for plugins that aren’t available in the WordPress plugin repository. You can download plugins from any trusted 3rd-party website also known as plugin marketplace and upload them to your WordPress dashboard. Let us see how to install WordPress plugins manually.
Step 1: Login to your WordPress dashboard
Step 2: Go the ‘Plugins’ section. Next, go the ‘Add New’ section. Here you can find the ‘Upload Plugin’ button in the top header section. Click on it, a new window will open
Step 3: Here, select the zip file of the plugin you want to upload by clicking on the ‘Choose File’ button. Once the file is uploaded to the server, click on the ‘Install Now’ button
Step 4: After the plugin is installed, click on the ‘Activate Plugin’ button to activate and configure the plugin
Your plugin is now successfully installed!
Fun Fact: Did you know that some plugins come pre-installed with WordPress depending on the hosting provider. Our WordPress Hosting at BigRock comes pre-installed with JetPack, a plugin that helps to boost traffic growth and enhance your website design.
Ready to Install?
We hope this WordPress plugins tutorial helped you understand how to install a WordPress plugin in an easy step-by-step manner. So what are you waiting for? Get going and customise your WordPress website with quality plugins today!
If you have any queries, feel free to leave them in the comments section below. Also, head to our For Bloggers category on the blog to know more and stay updated.
