Installing WordPress Plugins
There are two ways you can install and activate plugins
in WordPress:- You can download the plugin, unzip it and upload it to your plugins folder (the 'manual' process)
- You can add it through the 'Add New' link in the plugins section of your menu.
Most of the time you'll be able to install the plugins you want via the 'Add New' link, but this link only takes you to the list of plugins that are stored on the WordPress.org site.
Some plugins, including a few in the list on the previous page, are only available from the plugin author's site and these you'll need to install manually.
Installing plugins via the 'Add New' link
Here's a video I put together on this:
Installing plugins manually
Step 1: Download the plugin to your PC from the plugin developer’s site. It will be in a zip file.
Step 2: Unzip the files into a new folder on your PC.
I always make sure that my PC file structure and server file structure are identical because this makes it very easy to re-install things when they get messed up.
So I unzip my new plugin into the /wp-content/plugins folder on my PC. The result will be a new folder containing the files for the new plugin. It will probably have the same name as the zip folder you downloaded.
Step 3: Upload the new folder to the /wp-content/plugins folder on your server.
Step 4: Go to the Plugins screen in your WordPress admin area and click the 'Inactive' link (1 below).
Look for the plugin you just uploaded and click the 'Activate' link (2 below).
Step 5: You may need to set options. If so, look for your plugin in the menu in your Admin screen. It will often be in the Settings section, but some plugins create their own sections so check the entire menu bar carefully.
Step 6: Set your options, save the changes and you're done.
Having got your plugins installed and activated the next step is to install a good theme.