How to Install WordPress Plugins – Simple Guide for Beginners

After installation of WordPress, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Themes? Plugins? We already have a beginner’s guide about how to install a WordPress theme or a template. So we are here yet again to help you guide through the process of installation of plugins. Just follow the simple guidelines that we have provided below and you will be set in no time.

What are WordPress Plugins?

A plugin is a software designed for the easy usage of blogging platforms. Each plugin is filled with specific functionalities that you may require on your websites. WordPress provides a range of different plugins designed for various usage. You can find them on their official site- WordPress.org or on any other third party company who makes and provides them on their own sites. ThemeGrill is an example of such platform where you can find best WordPress plugins that you can use to your benefit.

While Plugins are helpful tools that will ease your work, it might be a hassle to install them if you are a beginner. To help sort out the problem, we have made three different beginner’s guide to help with the installation of plugins. You can go through each one of them and use whichever method you find useful.

Install Plugin using WordPress Search

Just as with Templates, this method is useful only if you wish to install plugins that are available in the official WordPress plugin directory. Although the choices are limited, this is the basic beginner’s method to install a plugin.

First, log in to your admin WordPress account and go to the admin area. You will see the option of Plugin. Click there and select the option for Add New. You will be redirected to a new screen.Search for the plugin that you want or write the specific functionality on the search bar. You will then see the plugins appear with the feature that you typed in.

Choose the one that you like and go through the details. After that, you can click on Install Now and start the installation. After the installation is complete, you will see a pop-up with the success message along with the link to activate or preview.

Click on Activate and your newly installed plugin is ready to use. You can now configure and customize the plugin to your liking and requirements.

Install Plugin using the WordPress Admin Plugin Upload

If the plugin you require is not listed within the WordPress Plugin Directory, you will need to find one from a third party company site. To install this you need to follow the following steps.

Download the plugin file from the desired site and save it.

You can then log in to your admin WordPress account and go to the admin area. You will see an option for Plugins. Click there and select the option for Add New.

The new redirected page shows you an option for Upload Plugin. Click it and choose the file you downloaded earlier. Select Install now and start the installation.

After the installation is complete, you will see a success message along with the selection to Activate Plugin. Click on activate the newly installed plugin.

Installing Plugin using FTP

Another method that you can use to install the Plugin is by using the FTP method. This method is not for a beginner searching for an easy way to install a plugin. However, sometimes your WordPress hosting might have file restrictions that limit your ability to install a plugin from your admin area. In such cases, you can use this method to install a plugin manually.

To start, you need to download the .zip file of the plugin’s source file. After downloading, extract the files and save it in a new folder.

Using the FTP client you need to upload the file to your website. For this, you require accessing your host through the FTP manager. Open the FTP client and connect to your website using the login information of your web host.After logging in, navigate to access the path /wp-content/plugins/. You can then upload the extracted folder to the /wp-content/plugins/ folder on your server.

After uploading the file you can then go to the Admin Area on WordPress and click on the Plugin option. You will see the uploaded plugin, click on the link to activate your new plugin and your plugin is ready to use.

Wrapping Up

While using a blogging platform, whether it is a personal blog or a blogging site dedicated to travel and food, or even an online shop or business profiles, plugins are the essentials that help to make it easier for you. Try out these methods try and install any kind of plugin that you may need. Hope this article helps!

Thanks for reading the chapter 4 of our ultimate WordPress guide on creating a WordPress site.