Plugin WordPress
What They Are
How to install them and how to use them
WordPress plugins: what they are and how to install them
If you have landed on this article it is because you are preparing to create your website and make it beautiful. To add new features you will have realized that WordPress alone is not enough, and this is where plugins come into the picture.
In this article we will answer your question: What are WordPress plugins and how do I install and use them?
Happy reading!
WORDPRESS PLUGINS WHAT THEY ARE: In this article you will find
WordPress Plugins What They Are
WordPress is a powerful platform for content management of websites, blogs and e-commerce (CMS) and has the great advantage of being open-source and free.
In fact, the only cost you will have to bear will be that of the hosting and the domain: the more powerful the hosting, the faster your site will be. You can purchase your hosting directly CLICKING HERE.
It's easy to see why WordPress is widely used to create a wide range of sites, from the simplest to complex portals and business sites. In fact, it is estimated that over 40% of all websites worldwide are built with WordPress.
The popularity of WordPress is also due to the combination of ease of use and flexibility: in addition to the standard features that allow any user to start a site quickly, there are easy, fast and very often free solutions to expand the functionality of your website.
In fact, to customize your site, you often want solutions not present on WordPress. This is where i come into play “plugin”. WordPress plugins are applications that allow you to add extra tools and features to your site or blog on the WordPress platform.
Plugins work like “add-ons” that you can integrate into your site, without needing to be a programmer or expert.
Some examples of plugins could be the link to WhatsApp messages, useful if a customer wants to contact you directly from your site, a form for booking your services or an interactive map showing your travels.
Imagine WordPress as a ship, and plugins as accessories: we can make our ship beautiful, but if we overdo it with the weight, we risk making it sink!
This is to say that plugins are pieces of code that are installed on your site, and can affect performance.
In fact, we recommend keeping the number of plugins as low as possible, trying not to go beyond 10. If you want to know which plugins are essential for a website, you can read this article CLICKING HERE.
WordPress Plugins What They Are and How to Install Them: Differences between WordPress.com and WordPress.org
Before starting to explain how to install a plugin on WordPress, we need to make a clarification: if you are using WordPress.com, you do not have the option to install plugins, unless you have upgraded to their business plan.
Instead you can install any plugin you want on your site WordPress.org directly “out-of-the-box”.
It is always important to take into account the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org which, despite the similar name, are two very different tools.
Here we are dealing with WordPress.org, and if by chance you just opened a site with WordPress.com and want to convert it to WordPress.org, you can contact us and we will do it for you. You can apply CLICKING HERE.
Having clarified this point, let's now see how to install a WordPress plugin on your site.
What are WordPress plugins?
WordPress Plugins How to Install Them
Now that we've seen what WordPress plugins are, let's analyze how to use them.
There are several WordPress plugins you can install, in this article we will cover the 2 simplest and most common methods.
Install a plugin using the WordPress Plugin Search.
This is definitely the easiest way to install a WordPress plugin. The only contraindication is that the plugin must be in the WordPress plugin repository, a huge library that contains many plugins, but not all.
If you are lucky enough to have your plugin in the repository, great!
First, go to your WordPress dashboard, click on
PLUGIN->ADD NEW
and in the search box, write the name of the plugin or the functionality you are looking for.
What are WordPress plugins?
A series of plugins relevant to your search will appear: choose the one that best suits your needs and is relevant INSTALL NOW.
WordPress will dutifully install the plugin and when it's done, the button will have turned into ACTIVATE. All you have to do is activate and configure it.
The configuration changes from plugin to plugin, and an explanation can usually be found in the plugin data sheet or on the software house website.
What are WordPress plugins and how to install them
Install a plugin using WordPress' Upload Plugin feature.
As we mentioned before, not all plugins are available in the WordPress repository: usually paid plugins must be downloaded directly from the site from which you purchase them.
To give an example, the very convenient Visual Builder Elementor it has a free and limited version that can be found in the repository, but the paid PRO version must be downloaded directly from their site.
Once the plugin file has been downloaded to our computer (in .ZIP file), it's time to upload it manually.
Go to the WordPress dashboard, click on
PLUGIN->ADD NEW.
Once this is done, you will see the button at the top LOAD PLUGIN. Press it to open a window where you can select the plugin to load.
What are WordPress plugins and how to install them
After selecting the file, you will have to install it by clicking on INSTALL NOW.
Once WordPress has done its job, it's time to activate it by pressing on ACTIVATE PLUGIN.
Conclusions
We hope with this article we have answered your question about WordPress plugins, what they are, and given you clear instructions on how to install them.
Always remember the fundamental difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org, and we always advise you, if you want a professional-looking site but with reduced management costs, to always use WordPress.org.
Do you have questions about what WordPress plugins are and how to use them?
Write to us in the comments below!
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