Step 10 - Adding Plugins, plus some of the most crucial Plugins your website needs
Now, we are going to address Plugins. According to Wordpress.com, "Plugins are ways to extend and add to the functionality that already exists in WordPress.
The core of WordPress is designed to be lean and lightweight, to maximize flexibility and minimize code bloat. Plugins then offer custom functions and features so that each user can tailor their site to their specific needs." You can read more about them here: http://codex.wordpress.org/Plugins.
There are so many Plugins you can add to your website, but I am going to suggest the ones that I find most important, as well as some of the ones that I implemented into my website.
First, I need to show you how we add Plugins. Let's log in to our Admin page and hover the mouse over Plugins. From here, as you can see, you can check already Installed Plugins. Click on Installed Plugins now. Even though we have not added any Plugins yet, usually Themes come with pre-installed Plugins. Some of the more common ones include Askimet, Hello Dolly or Jetpack. You can read the description of each of those Plugins right next to their names. Just a note that these are already active plugins. If you need to change the setting, or deactivate any of them, click on Deactivate (you will find this option under the name of the Plugin written in blue). If you want to leave them as is, that is perfectly fine too. If you want, just read about what they are, and if they sound like something you would like on your website, you can decide whether or not to keep them.
Now let's hover the mouse over Plugins again and click on Add New. Here we are going to search and add the Plugins we need. In the top right hand corner, right next to Add Plugins header , you will see an Upload Plugin button. You will want to click on that if you have a Plugin you want to upload from your computer. Usually with paid Plugins, you will have to save them to your computer first and from there upload them to your website. I am going to talk more about Paid Plugins in another post, but let's pretend you bought one Plugin you want to upload right now. Let's click on the Upload Plugin button. You will see this information:
Click on choose file and browse through the files on your computer to find the plugin you saved. It is the same exact process as uploading an image from your computer when you create a post. After you have found the plugin on your computer, select it and it will begin installing. When the installation is finished, you will see "Plugin successfully installed". Click on Activate It Now and go to Installed Plugins to check if it is there. So now you know the process on how to upload Plugins from your computer.
Oftentimes though, you will have the option of downloading all sorts of free Plugins by clicking on Add New and searching for the ones you might want through the Admin page. You can find the Search Plugins bar on the right hand side. Just write the name of the Plugin you want to find and we will upload them. So let's add some Plugins I find important right now.
If you didn't purchase the Site Backup Pro while choosing your Host and purchasing your Domain name, you want to upload some kind of Back Up Plugin, which is a must if something were to happen to your website. Trust me, anything can happen and if you do not have a proper backup and your site goes completely blank, gets hacked or completely disappears, all your work will be in vain if you do not have a backup to restore your website. The best back up Plugin I found is BackUpWordPress. Let's upload it now. Go to Plugins, next to Add New, and simply write the name of this Plugin in the Search Plugins bar, on the top right hand side of the page. You will see that some other Plugins will appear, but make sure to choose the one that says exactly BackUpWordPress. You can read more about what this Plugin's functionality is by clicking on More Details. If you are ready to install, click on the Install Now button. Now a table will appear asking you: "Are you sure you want to install this Plugin?" Click okay. Now, you will see this information. As it states: Successfully installed the plugin BackUpWordPress 2.6.2. Now, all you have to do is activate the Plugin so click on the Activate button. Done. If you go now to Installed Plugins, you will see BackUpWordPress is now there. That is how to upload Plugins.
Let me suggest some Plugins that I always use on my websites:
All in One SEO Pack - This Plugin is all you need for onsite SEO. You can read more about it here: https://wordpress.org/plugins/all-in-one-seo-pack/
Google XML Sitemaps - This Plugin will help search engines find you better. Read more about it here: https://wordpress.org/plugins/google-sitemap-generator/
Social Media Widget - This Plugin will provide you with social media icons that you can use on your website. Read more about it here: https://wordpress.org/plugins/social-media-widget/
WP-SpamShield - This Plugin will stop all the spam comments, registration comments etc. Read more about it here: https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-spamshield/
Contact Form 7 - This Plugin will help you set up a Contact form if you do not already have it build into your Theme. Read more about it here: https://wordpress.org/plugins/contact-form-7/
Some of these Plugins after activation are good to go. But others need to be setup properly. When you go to your Installed Plugins, you will notice that, for example, WP-SpamShield, or Jetpack have three options under their names: 1) Settings, 2) Deactivate, 3) Edit. You will have to go to Settings to make some required changes. I just wanted to mention it here in this post, but in order to change them, we will actually address that in a future post.
