What Is a WordPress Plugin? [A to Z Guide]

What Is a WordPress Plugin_ [A to Z Guide]

What Is a WordPress Plugin? [A to Z Guide]

WordPress is the most popular CMS to build websites and blogs. WordPress Plugins are a crucial part of WordPress. Basically, it enhances the WordPress functionality. WordPress Plugins are available in numerous categories, including SEO and site management, making your website more functional and usable. This blog will cover everything you need to know about What is WordPress plugin, including how to research, install, and configure them.

What is WordPress Plugin?

A WordPress Plugin is a computer program, usually a tiny piece of software, that adds a specific feature to WordPress. Every WordPress website has some other plugin that is running the site correctly. When you choose to add a WordPress Plugin to your WordPress site, that feature is now available to you. At the same time, the WordPress Plugin author may have added extra features and options that you also can utilize.

This is the reason you will find thousands of plugins available for WordPress. Some of the plugins make the website load faster, some help in website security, some increase the user experience of the website, and so on. The features of the WordPress plugin may vary but it does make WordPress a very powerful platform.

How to Install a WordPress Plugins?

There are 3 ways to install the WordPress plugins. The first one is the simplest, the second one is a bit complicated and the last one is for advanced users. So let’s know those three ways.

1. Install Plugin from WordPress Plugins Dashboard

What is WordPress Plugin

What is WordPress Plugin

Almost every user adopts this method to install the WordPress plugin. On the Dashboard of WordPress, a section will be found on the left side by the name of Plugins and you have to click on that and you will see a link of “Add New”. Simply click on that.

On the page of Add New Plugins, you will see a search box. From here you can search for your desired plugin which is available on wordpress.org. After searching WordPress Plugin, click on the “Install Now” button given below that plugin. After that, your plugin will be installed on your website from the server of wordpress.org.

2. Download and Install the Plugins

what-is-wordpress-plugin

what-is-WordPress-plugin

All WordPress plugins are not free. You will find Premium WordPress plugins as well. In WordPress.org, you will find only free WordPress plugins. So, you can download plugins from there and install.

Open the “Add Plugins” page as we show you in the first method. Here above you will see the “Upload Plugin” button. Click there. You will see a message, If you have a plugin in a .zip format, you may install it by uploading it here. This means that if you have any plugin in .zip then you can upload it here. Select your plugin by clicking on “Choose file”, then click on the “Install Now” button. Your plugin will be installed on your server.

Also Read: What Is WordPress Multisite? The Ultimate Guide

3. Install from cPanel

Not every server has cPanel, especially in managed hosting. If you have cPanel hosting, then login into your cPanel. You will see many folders and files there.

You have to go to wp-content >> plugins folder. Upload the zip file of your plugin there and extract it. Your plugin installation is completed.

How to Deactivate WordPress Plugins?

You may uninstall some WordPress plugins in the future for some reason. For example, some free WordPress plugins may not be updated regularly, which may threaten the security of your site. Other plugins may be slowing down your site.

Follow these steps:

  • Under the Admin screen menu, navigate to Plugins -> Installed Plugins.
  • Here in the table of plugins, look for the plugin that you want to deactivate or remove.
  • Select Deactivate. This action only turns off the plugin and will not remove it from your site. Skip the next step if you only want to temporarily disable the plugin.
  • Select “Delete” to completely remove the plugins from your site.

Where to Find WordPress Plugins:

Here are the best places to find WordPress plugin:

  • WordPress.org – the official WordPress plugins directory and one of the best places to find free WordPress plugins.
  • Code Canyon – a large directory of exclusively premium WordPress plugins.
  • Third-party developers – plenty of developers only sell plugins through their own sites, so using Google is often a good way to find plugins.

Conclusion:

There are over 40,000 plugins available for WordPress, and each one does a different thing.  A WordPress pluginsm

is simply a tool that will add extra functionality to your WordPress website. Whether you are using a free or premium plugin, most of them are designed to make your WordPress site more feature-rich.

This is a great place for WordPress beginners and experts alike to find the best plugins suited for their needs. We hope this blog post has shed some light on what a WordPress plugin is, how to use them, and why they are a great tool to have at your disposal!

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