In the “How to Install WordPress Plugins Guide for Beginners” article, we are going to take a look at three main things! First of all, we will explain what plugins are, secondly why you would need them, and then we will take a closer look at the installation process, which by the way, is exceptionally straightforward.
If you are ready, let’s start.
What are Plugins?
Let’s start from the very beginning with the definition of plugins. Plugins are add-ons, small pieces of code which usually add extra functionality to your website without the need for actual coding. Plugins can be pretty helpful in many situations.
Why Would You Need Plugin on Your WordPress Website?
There are several reasons why would you need a plugin; some of them are:
- You are not a professional developer and do not want to spend extra money on them for adding some functionality in codes
- Need for a specific plugin that already does have all the features you are looking for
- You want to level up your WordPress website now from scratch.
There are tons of plugins available out there that truly can improve your website’s overall performance.
- SEO plugins (such as Yoast SEO, RankMath) – SEO plugins improve the overall SEO of your website and score your content on readability and SEO. Also, they let you see which areas of the text are problematic and where you need to make some improvements.
- WordPress Security Plugins – those positively affect the security levels of your website, including automatic backups, and most importantly, make your website solid
- Ecommerce plugins (such as WooCommerce) – let you turn a normal website into a full-featured eCommerce store
- Analitycs plugins (as Monster Insights) – these plugins analyze and provide you with a complete report of your website. This furtherly allows you to make any necessary improvements and see the overall picture of strengths and weaknesses.
- Form plugins (WPForms) – those are mostly drag & drop form builders, which just makes the whole process easier and more enjoyable. With these you can make surveys, polls, questionaries, tests, exams, and anything your imagination wants.
With this wide variety of plugins available all for different purposes, it may be hard to comprehend which ones you need; I will recommend you to take a look at our “Top 10 must-have plugins to level up your website” article in order to have a better understanding of what you need.
How to Install Plugins on Your Website?
Finally, we are the “Most Important” part of the article, the Guide on how to install WordPress plugins.
Step 1 – Backend
So, if you want to install a plugin on your website, you need to access it from the backend. Therefore, go and log in to your WordPress. There you will be able to see your dashboard.
Step 2 – Go to Plugins Directory
On the left bar in your dashboard, there is a tab called “Plugins.” When you click on that tab, where you can see two options, “Plugins” and “Add New,” click on the “Add New” one.
Step 3 – Search Line
When you click on add new, you will be redirected to the plugin directory. Where on the search line, you just need to type the name of the plugin you plan to install.
Step 4 – Find the Plugin and Install
After you type the name, it may bring us several similar plugins. However, just choose the one you need, and click on “Install.”
Step 5 – Activate
The last step left in your journey is to just click on “activate.” Afterward, you will be able to see the plugin in your dashboard; click on it. And discover new functionality alongside the features it added.
Pros and Cons of Plugins in General
So, we reviewed almost everything related to WordPress plugins, starting with the definition, types, and reasons you would need them and ending with the Guide on “How to Install WordPress Plugins”. Therefore, I believe that it is time to review the benefits and potential drawbacks of plugins. Look down below to see those:
Pros
- Drastically save your time – The major reason why developers utilize plugins is that they save a lot of time during development, which can reduce a website’s overall costs. There are plugins for almost any requirement in the WordPress Plugin Directory. This might include everything from major functionality such as e-commerce or multi-language support to minor changes such as allowing site administrators to add Analytics tracking to a site without modifying the code.
- Wide variety of plugins available – there are plugins available for everything, such as SEO plugins, cache plugins, form plugins, and even security plugins.
- Flexibility – Plugins allow developers to change the features and performance of a website. Most plugins allow you to toggle certain settings on and off, adjust fonts, colors, and sizes to better communicate the message of your website/business. Also, it is worth noticing that it is quite simple to delete the plugin from your website. As we showed you in the guide, follow the same steps. But instead of clicking on “add new” click on just “plugins”. And you will see all the installed plugins. Over there you can choose the ones you want to keep, the ones to deactivate, and of course the ones to completely eliminate.
- Reliability – Plugins have grown so crucial to WordPress development that many of them are now built and maintained by reputable firms that update them on a regular basis to correct bugs and enhance solidity. However, I want to mention that even though there are plenty of free plugins available it can be more advantageous to use paid ones. The upside of using paid plugins is that the firms behind them have an incentive to keep the plugins updated in order to keep their users satisfied.
Cons
- Vulnerability – Not all plugins are updated on a regular basis or designed to the highest standards. So, the site can be at higher risk of being exposed to hackers. According to WP White Security, plugins are responsible for 54 percent of all known WordPress risks.
- Limit functionality – One of the drawbacks of utilizing a plugin is that you are restricted to what it can do and the settings it allows you to alter. The good news is that there are so many alternatives available that you should be able to discover one that meets your requirements.
- Can sometimes conflict with each other – Because plugins are so useful, it’s easy to become overly reliant on them. It’s not uncommon for plugins to have conflicts with one another. This could lead to broken functioning or possibly the complete shutdown of your website. We recommend using only the plugins you truly require and testing the site after each addition to ensure that they all work together.
- Slow downloading speed of your website – Plugins can slow down a page since they frequently need the loading of additional CSS and JavaScript files. As a result, each time a user views a page, your site must load additional assets. If you keep installing plugins, the assets will quickly accumulate, slowing down the page’s load time.
Summary
To summarize the “How to Install WordPress Plugins Guide for Beginners” article, I can say that plugins can be quite beneficial for your website. And I hope that this guide made the installation process clear to you. Also, please remember that you do not need to install every single plugin out there because that can increase the loading time of your website. Increased loading time can negatively affect conversion rates, so make sure that it loads fast for high rates.
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Must-Read Articles
Do not forget to check out our Must-Read articles! This rubric is not called a must-read for no reason; the articles chosen and displayed here will genuinely benefit you. We also have many guides like “How to Install WordPress Plugins” one was.
Top lists – is the category of articles in our blog where you will be able to review top lists. Lists in almost every category of existing plugins starting off with SEO and ending with Discount plugins for WooCommerce. Take a look at the “Best WordPress Mega Menu Plugins 2022: Premium and Free” article. In this article, you will discover the best Mega menu plugins available out there for free.
Plugins Review – under this category of our blog, you will be able to find honest and detailed reviews about almost every plugin. I will recommend you take a look at the “Best WP Calorie Calculator Plugin: 2022 Review” article to see how detailed the review is and make your final decision on the further purchase. Articles in this rubric save your time and energy.
Beginners Guide – over here, you can find extremely useful articles for beginners; I recommend you take a look at the “How to Create a Wishlist in WooCommerce – 5 Simple Steps” article, which will provide you with the list of best plugins to create a wishlist with. Besides, it will also explain the whole process in 5 simple steps with the “Wishlist for WooComemrce” plugin.
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Is there any method to have exactly the features you want in a certain plugin?
Hi, Ramesh. Thanks for your feedback.
If you want to have this or that feature in a certain plugin, you may contact the developer for adding customization, if possible)))
I am WordPress beginner. Like your channel. Please do more articles for very beginners.
Hi, Armando. Thank you for your feedback.
We’ll surely take it into consideration.