How to Install WordPress Plugins

This video will show you how to install WordPress plugins into your self-hosted WordPress site. There are two ways to do this: search and install from within WordPress itself, or find a plugin out on the web and download it. I’ll show you how to do both in this video.

This may seem simple and you may even already know how to do it, but do you also know what to look for in a plugin? What are the signs of a good plugin? You may pick up some good tips from this video.

But I don’t stop there. You’ll learn how to manage plugins, too:

Activate & deactivate plugins
Delete plugins
Update plugins

Yes, I know I’ve been on a bit of plugins kick lately, here, but it’s such useful stuff. I’ve found a nice little vein of content gold and I’m mining it for you.

If you enjoyed the video, please click the “Like” button that appears when it’s finished and share this post with your friends!

Filed Under: Blogging

http://www.selaplana.com/ Sustines

The video is easy to understand that even newby in WordPress can follow it easily.

Yes, it’s quite easy to install new plugins and activating it. It’s also just a click of the mouse in updating the installed plugins.

However, one should understand that plugins sometimes slow down the blog. Thus, one should think first whether he really needs the plugins or not before installing and activating plugins. Besides, one should make sure that the plugin he wants to be installed into the blog are updated and tested up to the latest version of the WordPress.
- http://remarkablogger.com Michael Martine
  
  Thanks for your comment. That whole “plugins slow the blog down” thing is more myth than fact (see James’s comment for what could really slow down your site).
  
  As long as your plugins are written according to WordPress’s standards, you’re on a decent host and even better if you have a caching plugin, you can use quite a lot of plugins with no problem.
  
  My take on it is this: use plugins when they do something you need. If performance suffers then bolster the underlying framework instead of sacrificing functionality that gets you leads or makes you money.
  - http://www.selaplana.com/ Sustines
    
    Well, James is right. Conflict between plugins installed can cause server problem which leads to the slowing of the blog. Thanks for correcting me.
    - http://remarkablogger.com Michael Martine
      
      Don’t think of it as correcting, think of it as providing additional information.
http://www.red8interactive.com James Hipkin

@Michael Love plugins. They can easily extend the functionality of a WordPress site. And many very powerful plugins are free. But “free” sometimes isn’t. Plugins don’t always play nice in the sandbox. They can conflict with other plugins on the site and/or with any JS that the theme is using to manage animation.

JS conflicts aren’t always an instantaneous thing. The site might well function just fine, initially, with the new plugin but behind the scenes the conflict is eating away at server memory, which causes the site to slow down and finally your visitors are looking at the white screen of death.

Don’t just install them and leave them. This is especially true if you are installing a less popular plugin, something with a highly specialized function. Watch your site carefully for performance issues.

Don’t install more than one at a time. If you install multiple plugins you won’t know which one is causing the conflict if the problem arises.

If you discover a conflict and your site starts to slow down or just stops loading all is not lost. Simply deactivate the offending plugin, you know which one it is because you are only installing one at a time, and, depending on how your host has you set up, you might need to reboot your server.
- http://remarkablogger.com Michael Martine
  
  These are most excellent points, James, and everyone would do well to heed them. Thanks so much for sharing your expertise!
http://www.poweredbyintuition.com Angela Artemis/Poweredbyintuition

Michael,
Although I know how to install WP plugins (one of the few technical tasks I can perform on my blog) the video was a great refresher. Thank you.
- http://remarkablogger.com Michael Martine
  
  Cool, Angela, glad you enjoyed it.
http://www.writeabio.com Daly

I was also a firm believer to the fact that too many plugins will jam my blog. Thanks for clearing that up!
- http://remarkablogger.com Michael Martine
  
  Technically, yes, too many plugins will jam your blog. But “too many” is a great many more than what most people imagine. I have a client with a blog running over 20 plugins easily, no sweat. Most people would never need over 20 plugins.
http://www.datalinkuk.com/ Zen Cart

Thanks for explanations. Personally I like WordPress because of a number of these amazing plugins which can help you to do whatever you want:) And as I have noticed they become more and more popular among bloggers
http://www.constructionlawNC.com Melissa Brumback

Thanks for the video. I have just migrated over to wordpress.org from wordpress.com, and could not for the life of me figure out what to do after I downloaded a plugin. (Yes, I unzipped it). Makes it so easy to see you do in “real time”. THANKS!!!!
http://www.toppaydayloan.co.uk Amanda

I find the easiest way is to save the plugin in ZIP format in a folder for your new installs and just upload directly – easier than FTP!
Marie

Hi there,

The new WordPress with the network admin is very confusing. To install a plugin is not this simple anymore and very frustrating…

Can you perhaps make a video or describe how to activate a plugin? I have installed a plugin but I cannot activate it. I am not using more than one site in the dashboard, but somehow this network option is frustrating me a lot…
- http://remarkablogger.com Michael Martine
  
  I don’t know what you mean by the “new WordPress with the network admin.” There is a single self-hosted version of WordPress, WordPress Multi-Site and WordPress.com the free service.
  
  If your permissions are restricted somehow, that’s something you need to take up with the site’s administrator or technical person/webmaster.
http://foxyreign.com FoxyReign

I upload the zip file more often that searching them from the search bar. Because most of the times, it fails.
http://www.panterasnegras.ch Panteras Negras

Thanks very much! I seeked for that!
(Sry 4 my bad english..i am from switzerland)
http://www.wordpressians.com/ WordPress Tutorials

Your video is very helpful for newbies. Thanks for sharing the step by step guide through this blog.

Best Regards!
Mohammad Shadab