In this WordPress How To article you will learn how to install plugins and activate them. This is going to be a step-by-step tutorial which you will be able to use every time you install new plugins to your WordPress blog. From within the WordPress Dashboard there are two ways you can install plugins. One way is to search via the Dashboard and the other way is to download them to your computer and upload your plugin via the Dashboard. I will walk you through each of these ways. If this is the first time you will be installing plugins, it is a simple enough process so just follow along and carry out each step as needed.

Automatically Install Plugins From Within Your Dashboard

If you first login to the Dashboard area of your blog. Over on the left hand side you will see a menu column. Hover your mouse over the plugins menu to reveal an arrow, click the arrow to reveal a sub-menu.

Now click on ‘Add New’ to take you to the ‘Install Plugins’ page.

At the ‘Install Plugins’ page you are able to enter a name or phrase for what you are looking for, if you know the name of the plugin you would like to install enter it now. If you do not know of a plugin name just enter a phrase which describes what you would like to add to you blog. I am looking for a plugin to perform a daily backup of my blog, so I will be entering ‘database backup’. Now simply click ‘Search Plugins’.

A list of plugins will now appear. Look through the list to see if there is a plugin for what you are looking for. The plugin ‘WP-DB-Backup’ is in my list which is perfect for what I was looking for, so I will now click the ‘Install Now’ link. You will now see the plugin you have chosen being installed and it will tell you when it’s complete, you will then be presented with the option to activate the plugin – if you wish to do so, click on the ‘Activate Now’ link.

That’s it! You now know how to install plugins by searching for them and installing then directly from within your dashboard.

Uploading Plugins From Your Computer to Your WordPress Blog

You may still, from time-to-time need to install a plugin manually, for example, it may be a newly released plugin that has not yet been added to the WordPress.org site or you may have purchased a plugin. I have just purchased a new plugin called ‘RSS Bomber’ which I will now use to show you how to add a plugin manually from your computer.

Before we can start, after you have downloaded the plugin onto your computer, make sure the plugin folder is a zip file. First login to the Dashboard area of your blog, then click on the ‘Plugins’ tab over on the left hand side then click on ‘Add New’ which appears under the ‘plugins’ tab. At the top of the page click on the ‘Upload’ link. Now click the ‘Choose File’ button and choose the zip file of your plugin to be uploaded, then click ‘Choose’ followed by the ‘Install Now’ button. WordPress will now upload and install your plugin. Once your plugin has finished installing, it will tell your plugin was successfully installed, to activate it click the ‘Activate Plugin’ link. You are now finished and you will be able to see your installed plugin by clicking on ‘Plugins’ tab over on the left hand side of the page.

This is the easiest way to install individual plugins onto your WordPress blog without the need for a separate application, nice and easy.

I will just take the time to thank you for reading this Wordppress How To guide, I hope it lends a helping hand with all your WordPress needs.

Alester:-)
WordPress How To

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