How to Install a WordPress Plugin

WordPress is the best content management system that can be used to create any kind of website. It has a lot of features that make content management really easy. There are also thousands of cool plugins to enhance the functionality of WordPress. By installing various kinds of plugins we can add more options to WordPress. In this post, I will show you how to install WordPress Plugins.

If you are using WordPress.com, it won’t allow you to install any plugin until you upgrade to their business plan. You can only use WordPress plugins if on a self-hosted blog. So, you need good hosting and a domain name for using self-hosted WordPress.

Also see: WordPress.org vs WordPress.com

If you are using a self-hosted WordPress blog, keep reading to know how to install a plugin.

Install a WordPress Plugin

There are two ways to install WordPress Plugins on your blog:

1. WordPress Dashboard
2. FTP

Installing WordPress Plugin from the Dashboard:

This is the easiest way to search and install a plugin in WordPress. Login in to your WordPress website. When you are on Dashboard, click on Plugins –> Add new. Here you will see a search box. Type the name of the plugin and click on the search plugin button. Now you will see the list of plugins related to the search term. In the given list, you will see the name of plugins, their version, rating, and description. If you are not sure about the plugin, you can see more detail by clicking on the Details link just below the name of the plugin. To install the plugin, click on the install link just below the plugin. After installation, click on Activate Plugin.

If you have the zip file of the plugin which is not available in the WordPress repository, you can install it by using the upload feature of the plugin. You will find this upload link just below the search box. see the snap below. Here choose the zip file located in your system and click on install now. Be sure that you are uploading a zip file of the plugin.

FTP method to Install WordPress Plugin:

This method can be used when you have the zip file of the plugin in your system but the upload plugin function on the WordPress dashboard is not working. It could be due to the Maximum File Upload Size limit or due to any other reason. If you want to upload and install Plugin using FTP keep reading.

Connect yo your hosting with an FTP client. I recommend the use of FileZilla. Now navigate to the directory containing your WordPress site. When you are in the directory where WordPress is installed, open /wp-content/plugins directory. This is the location where you need to upload the plugin folder. If you are uploading the Zip =, you will need to unzip it.

Once the plugin folder is uploaded, go to the WordPress dashboard and then plugins. Here you will see the list of all the plugins available on your website. You will also see the name of the Plugin you just uploaded using FTP. You just need to activate the plugin from here to use it on your blog.

Wrap Up

I prefer and recommend plugin installation from the WordPress dashboard because it is a very simple and fast method. There could be a few cases when you have to use the FTP method to install the plugin in WordPress.