How to Install Wordpress Plugins | An Introduction to Wordpress Plugins

A lot of people have been using WordPress to create blogs as well as websites. This because WordPress has many user friendly features. Even a newbie can easily create a wordpress blog or a website using wordpress.

Another interesting feature about WordPress are plug-ins. So what is a plug-in? A plugin is something that improves the functionality of your website. There are literally thousands of plugins available. There are different plug-ins available that can help you do almost anything – from adding Facebook like buttons and contact forms to streaming videos and audio podcasts.

My favourite plugins are ones which improve the search engine friendliness of your website. But I also like the social bookmarking ones as well.

Here’s step by step guide on how you can add WordPress plug-ins.

1. On your WordPress site, click the plug-in button on the left hand side of your computer.

2. Once you have clicked the plug-in button you will find different plug-ins such as Hello Dolly which does not have any function so you can just delete it. Aside from that, you will find Akismet plug-in which is a good plug-in because it helps blocks spam. Just click on the “Akismet” Plug-in and activate it. You can get a code to make the Akismet plugin work by clicking on the “Sign up for an Akismet API key” link.

3. Adding a plug-in in your WordPress is very simple. All you need to do is click on the Add new button. You can then search for a particular plugin by entering search terms in the search field or upload a plugin from your computer (if you have downloaded once from somewhere else).

Quite easy isn’t it? You always have the opportunity to choose the right plug-ins that you can use for your website.

But remember, plugins are a bit like chocolate. Too much is not a good thing. Having a lot of plugins installed means that you run the risk of some of them conflicting with each other. To prevent this from happening, it is wise to check your website each time you install a plugin just to make sure nothing weird happens (like your website breaking). If something weird happens, just uninstall the offending plugin and search for another similar one.

You can check out this video and get to know more on the steps on what to do with your wordpress plugins.