A WordPress Plugin is an add-on that allows you to easily add customization and functionality to your blog without programing any files. Basically, they add tons of new features to your blog in a simple manner.
There are thousands of plugins available for WordPress, and each one exists for a certain purpose. For example, there is a plugin that will display your most popular posts in the sidebar.
Now that you know what a plugin is, its time to learn how to add them to your blog. There are a few ways of going about this, but for the beginner, this is the most simple and straight-forward method.
- Once logged on and in the WordPress Dashboard, find the “Plugins” tab located in the left sidebar. Under this tab you will find a section labeled “add new”. Click on this.
- You will now be in the plugins section where you can search, browse, and upload plugins.
- Type in the name of the plugin you are looking for. (For example: “Popular Posts”). This will bring up the search results. Browse through these and find one that strikes your interest. (Pay attention to the star-ratings of the plugins, because they will give you an idea of what other WordPress users think of them).
- Once you find an appropriate plugin, click on “Details”. Here you can read more about the plugin, view screen shots, and most importantly, check if it is compatible with your version of WordPress.
- If everything checks out with the plugin, all you must do is click on “Install Now”.
- The plugin will now be installed, but you still must activate it by simply clicking on “activate”.
- Once you have activated the plugin, you will see the title of your plugin displayed under the “Settings” tab in dashboard sidebar. Here you can edit the settings of the plugin to further customize it. (Please note that not all plugins have settings to adjust).
You have now successfully installed your first plugin! Way to go! It wasn’t so hard, was it?
