Basic WordPress training: Using plugins on your WordPress site
In this tutorial I’ll introduce you to the concept of WordPress plugins; what they are used for and why it’s not a good idea to install too many.
What are plugins?
As the name implies, plugins are programmes that plug in to WordPress to give your site additional functionality. WordPress by itself has a set number of functions; sometimes it’s useful to be able to build upon these.
There are thousands of plugins to choose from. Anything you want your site to do, a quick Google search will give you endless plugin solutions. You can create newsletter sign-up forms, pop-ups, add social media buttons – the possibilities are practically endless. Here are a couple I suggest you install and activate:
Akismet to fight spam
Spam is an unfortunate fact of life if you allow comments on your website. Akismet is one of the most popular and effective plugins for filtering spam. Unlike most other plugins Akismet comes readily installed with WordPress, but you will need to activate it – more about that later.
WordPress SEO by Yoast
This is one of the most complete plugins to help you be found on Google and other search engines. It will provide various ways of ensuring the content of your site is SEO friendly.
[ezcol_1quarter]You’ll find your plugins at Plugins>Installed Plugins.
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[ezcol_1quarter]Here you’ll see a list of all your plugins that have been installed in your version of WordPress. It’s important to note that not everything that is installed is necessarily active (meaning that not all of the plugins are currently affecting the way your website behaves).
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[ezcol_1quarter]To see which plugins are active, click on the ‘Active’ link at the top of the page.
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[ezcol_1quarter]Adding a new plugin
To add a new plugin, go to Plugins>Add New.
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[ezcol_1quarter]You’ll then be taken to a page where you can install plugins.
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[ezcol_1quarter]If you have an idea of which plugin you want but you haven’t installed it yet, you can use the ‘Search’ field to type in the name of the plugin or words related to the job you need the plugin to perform on your site (if you were looking for a plugin to add a Facebook ‘Like’ button to your posts for example, you might type in ‘Facebook like’ and click ‘Search plugins’). WordPress then searches its official plugin directory.
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[ezcol_1quarter]You can peruse the options and click ‘Details’ to find out more about an individual plugin.
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[ezcol_1quarter]There’s lots of helpful information here like ratings (from other users) and reviews. You can also check that it’s compatible with the version of WordPress you are running. I’d advise making sure that it has also been updated fairly recently; a sure-fire way to know that a plugin will cause you headaches is if it hasn’t been updated in the last year.
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[ezcol_1quarter]When you are certain you’ve found the plugin you want, click ‘Install Now’.
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[ezcol_1quarter]You’ll be asked to confirm that you definitely want to install the plugin – click ‘Yes’. Next, you’ll be taken to the installation page; once you’re told that the plugin has successfully installed, you’ll need to click ‘Activate’ to ensure that it is available for use on your site.
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[ezcol_1quarter]Each plugin works slightly differently from here; you’ll need to consult the documentation at the plugin’s website. You can navigate to the website of the plugin, by going to Plugins>Installed Plugins, finding the relevant plugin and clicking ‘Visit plugin site’.
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[ezcol_1quarter]Other ways to find and install plugins
You do have other options for finding and uploading plugins to your site. From Plugins>Add New, you can click on ‘Featured’, ‘Popular’, and ‘Newest’ to see plugins within these categories.
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[ezcol_1quarter]If you have purchased a premium plugin from an external source like Code Canyon, and have downloaded the plugin files to your computer, you can upload the plugin (in a zip format) via the ‘Upload’ link at the top of the ‘Install Plugins’ page.
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[ezcol_1quarter]Simply click ‘Browse’ to find the zip file on your computer. Highlight the file and click ‘Open’. Next click ‘Install Now’. From here, simply activate the plugin so it’s ready to use on your site.
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Plugin best practices
Here are a few general tips to make sure your site runs smoothly whilst using plugins:
- Install only the plugins that are compatible with your current version of WordPress
- Make sure you update plugins when a new version is available
- Delete plugins you are no longer using
- Don’t activate 2 plugins that do the same job – it might break your website
Can you have too many plugins?
In a word, yes. Be careful; too many installed plugins can significantly slow down your site’s loading time and compromise its performance. Having said that, not all plugins will slow your site down, but some are incompatible with each other and can cause problems. As a rule of thumb, install the minimum amount of plugins necessary to keep your site functional and running as you want it to. The best practises above will help things keep ticking over smoothly.
