After have installed WordPress, if you are new with the framework, you maybe want to know how to install plugins on WordPress.
Don’t worry it’s a simple task, you can install plugins manually or directly from the administration dashboard (wp-admin).
In this tutorial, I’m going to show you the different ways to do it.
First, some of you might wonder what is a plugin so let’s explain it briefly.
A WordPress’ plugin is a module with extra features who can be added to the WordPress framework (core).
For example, let’s say you want to add a “contact form”, you can do it easily by adding the “Contact Form 7” or “Contact form by WPforms” plugin.
There’s a very large library of plugins (free) created by WordPress community or professionals (free and paid).
There are many ways to install a plugin on WordPress:
If you have set up your WordPress well with the adequate rights on your server-side, the easiest way to do it is probably via the WordPress dashboard (administration panel).
First access to your WordPress admin backend by typing /wp-admin or /wp-login.php at the end of your URL (ex: http://www.yourwebsite.com/wp-admin).
Once logged, you should see a vertical menu on your left side.
Go to the Plugins menu.
If you click directly on Plugins, it will show the list of your installed plugins, with an “Add New” button at the top.
If you simply hover the Plugins menu with your mouse, you should see a submenu with “Add New”.
After click on “Add plugin”, a page with the featured plugins will appear.
Search the plugin in the WordPress community repository via the search text box on the right side.
Note that not all plugins are registered in the repository, so you will maybe have to upload it manually.
Type some keywords inside the text box, it will show the results corresponding.
When you have found the plugin you want to install, just click on the “Install Now” button to install the plugin.
After the installation, don’t forget to activate it with the “Activate” labeled link.
If your plugin is not listed in the WordPress.org repository, you might need to install it manually.
It’s generally happened when you buy a “premium” plugin from a professional or a company.
When you purchase a pro plugin from a platform (ex: plugin from ThemeForest, Wprocket’s plugin…), you will usually get the possibility to download the plugin from the website through you bought it.
You can upload the file directly from the WordPress dashboard (2.a) or upload it via FTP (2.b).
Access to your WordPress admin backend by typing /wp-admin or /wp-login.php at the end of your URL (ex: http://www.yourwebsite.com/wp-admin).
Once logged, you should see a vertical menu on your left side.
Go to the Plugins menu.
From the submenu, click on the “Add New” menu.
Then an “Add plugin” page will appear.
This time click on “Upload Plugin”, near the title.
Browse the archive zip file from your computer (it should be in your Download folder).
Then click on the “Install now” button.
If your provider doesn’t allow you to upload a plugin from the dashboard, you might need to install it via File Transfert Protocol (FTP).
For most common web hosting providers, you should be able to find your FTP account information (login and password) via their administration panel.
If not, you should consider to change and go with some provider like Kinsta, or build your own VPS with Vultr or else.
Install an FTP client software (like Filezilla) on your computer then log in with your FTP account.
Beforehand, you will need to unzip the plugin.
You will get a folder with the plugin name.
Upload the plugin by drag and drop the entire folder under your WordPress’ wp-content/plugins/ folder.
It should take a few time until the whole folder is uploaded.
When you have uploaded your plugin, you should see it appear in your installed plugins list.
To activate it, go to your plugins list (Dashboard > Plugins) then click on the “Activate” labeled link.
Now you know how to install plugins on WordPress, it was not so difficult isn’t it?
