How To WordPress Plugin

How to WordPress Plugin

WordPress is the best blogging and affiliate store software out there.

One thing that makes it so great (besides the fact that it’s free, easy to use and supported by every major web host out there) is that you can add all kinds of great functions just by clicking a button and installing a new plugin.

In “How to WordPress Plugin” We are assuming that you have wordpress installed on a computer or host server and you have a admin login and can login to your wordpress software.

We are going to walk you thru finding, install and setting up/ configuring wordpress plugins. We will then finish up by giving you our list of the best WordPress Plugins out there!

How to wordpress Plugin – the Basics

NOTE: I am having a problem with the images for this article. they will be back in a few days.

1)      Once you have logged into your WordPress admin panel, if you look on the left side you will see a list of functions you can access like I have in the picture below. I have highlighted the “Plugins” Option in yellow (Note:  mine has a red 1 next to it. That is telling me that I have 1 wordpress Plugin that is ready for an automatic update).

2)      If you click on the plugins option it will expand and give you the following choices:

3)      Clicking on the “installed” option will show you all the plugins that you have currently installed. Clicking on the “ Add New” option will let you search for new plugins to install. And Clicking on the “Editor” option will let you Edit an existing Plugin. IF YOU ARE READING THIS “How To WordPress Plugin Guide” you certainly do not want to try to edit a WordPress plugin. Modifying a WordPress plugin without really knowing what you are doing could lead to very unpredictable results!

4)      I am going to start by having you click on the “Add New” Plugin option and show you how to select  a new plugin and install it and then set it up to run. It’s Easy! Let’s start:

5)      Click on the “Add New” Option and you will go to the “install Plugin” Screen. I have a picture of the main part of the screen below

6)      There are 2 basic ways to search for WordPress plugins. You Can enter a term to search on in the search bar (highlighted in yellow above) or you can select one of the Tags (a tag is a group of like items) that sounds like what you are looking for (Highlighted in Pink above).

7)      For example, if you want to find a plugin that lists related posts at the end of each post you would type in “related Posts” in the search field and hit search. It will bring back a list of WordPress Plugins that contain the term “Related Posts” like you see below.

8)      I had to cut off the picture so it would fit but there are two key things here. To the left is the name of the plugin. If you click on it will take you to the Plugin Creators page that gives a description of the plugin and how it works (in more detail than the “description” field you see. There is also a version number (release number) and a user rating which can help you judge which is better (although the newest ones won’t be rated yet). To the far right is an “Install” word (I had to cut it off in the picture). If you click on install it will install the plugin!

9)      Once you have clicked the install word you will get a pop up screen that describes the plugin in more detail and has an install button. Clicking the install Button makes the pop up screen go away and one of several things will happen;

– You may get a screen that displays the steps WordPress is going thru to install the Plugin

– or you may get a screen asking you to login to your Web hosting account in order to install the plugin. If you get this enter your login and password and the plugin will start to install with the same descriptions as mentioned in the prior dashed line.

10)   Every once in a while I have a plugin take a while to install or even fail. Usually this is do to a temporary internet connection issue. One time the plugin had a problem. All I do is redo these steps and install it again. If it fails I just try another plugin> There are often many (10 – 50) plugins that will fit the same need.

11)   Once the plugin is installed there are still 2 steps left. First you must activate the plugin.  In the picture below I have installed then “Super Slider Plugin”. At the bottom I click “Activate Plugin” or I can Click “return to plugin installer” to look for more plugins to install> If I choose not to activate the plugin at this time I can do it any time I want by clicking on the “Installed” option from the plugins selection on the left hand side of the admin panel s shown in the picture at the start of the “How to WordPress Plugin” instructions.

12)   Clicking on the Installed option will give you a list of all of your plugins , a brief description of the plugin and a link to either:

– Activate the plugin if it is not Activated yet

– Deactivate the plugin if it is activated and you want to turn it off

– Edit the plugin (remember you don’t want to do this unless you are a programmer

13)   There is also a box to the left of the plugin. You can check this on one or more plugins and Activate, deactivate or delete one or more plugins at a time with the “Bulk Actions” selection just above the “plugins” column of the Manage Plugins page that you are in.

14)   Final Step! Once you have activated your plugin There are usually options that can be set. Most plugins I have installed work right out of the box. But some require you to go into the “Settings” option on the right hand side of the Admin panel and select your plugin to modify its settings or configurations.

15)   These plugin settings vary.  If it is a plugin to Add related posts to the end of a post, it may ask you how many you want to add (1 – 10). Or a plugin may ask you other preferences. So always check in the settings so you see what options you have to set or choose from.

16)   Every once in a while a Plugin will have an additional Selection of its own in the admin panel.

17)   This is usually below the settings tab with its own tab.

OK folks that is it. I hope this is enough information to get you started. I have a list of some of the best plugins in another article on this site in the “How To WordPress” section!

Have fun!

Be Sociable, Share!

•