WordPress Plug Ins - The Basics

There are many plug ins available to enhance functionality of WordPress, such as for instance rating systems, post word counts, weather reports and many others. As there is such a vast choice of add ons, they are not included in the WordPress core files and have to be downloaded. Freely available to the public and designed by volunteers, they are generally considered to be safe and have certainly be tested thoroughly; however it should be noted that they are works in progress and may need some attention by the user. It is advisable to check how to copy WordPress containing plug ins on one of the many tutorial websites (Tamba2, for instance, has some very detailed instructions).

WordPress plug ins can be found within the Administration/ Plugins/ Add New tab; alternatively the Plugins Repository WordPress website can be accessed. There is also a site for Plugin Resources, should you wish to create your own, personalised add ons. Compatibility with various versions of WordPress can be established by searching the index available on the WordPress Plugin Compatibility site.

Plug ins can be added by using one of two available options. The first, and easiest, is to simply use the installer built into WordPress. This enables the user to search for, install and activate them directly from/ through the Administration/ Plugin tab. The second option is to install them the traditional way - by searching for, downloading, expanding and uploading zip files and then activating them via the Plugins Management tab.

Although authors/ developers at WordPress make installation as simple as possible, some add on scripts will be more difficult to deal with than others and there are some important issues to be considered before attempting to install any of them. The first thing is to make sure all available information on the webpage, as well as readme.txt files are thoroughly perused. The more information can be gathered before starting the process, the better and the simpler the process will become.

As all plug ins require down/ uploading for installation, the user needs to be familiar with down/ upload processes and may also have to know how FTP is used. They may also entail modifications to WordPress templates or files, which requires familiarity with HTML, PHP, CHMOD and CSS. Any modifications within these files and templates need to be recorded by making notes within the code, consisting of comments both before and after changes made, as well as saving a text file detailing changes onto the desktop. This will be a useful help if changes need to be repeated due to problems arising in the future.

Before any are installed, a back up should be created, preferably with a second copy (for how to copy WordPress with plug ins consult one of the various available tutorials) saved onto the hard drive. Changes can then be tested on the copy first. Once everything is set up and working correctly, another back up should be created.

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