Independent Digital

WordPress is designed to be lean and fast. In most cases it is perfectly capable of doing the job as is, out of the box. Some users may have extra requirements, this is where Plugins come in. Plugins are tools that extend the functionality of WordPress. WordPress Plugins are designed by volunteers and are free to all users. Plugins are the responsibility of their authors so treat all new untried Plugins with caution. If you want to develop your own plugins, there is a comprehensive list of resources at Plugin Resources.

Where can you find Plugins?

You can find a list of WordPress plugins, and links to other repositories, here Plugins.

Is the Plugin compatible with your version of WordPress?

You can checkl to see whether the plugin you want is compatible with your WordPress version here, WordPress Plugin Compatibility.

Installing Plugins

Most Plugins come with a readme.txt file, which explains how to install the plugin. Usually the authors? website also has installation instructions. In any event, you need to load all the plugin files into the plugins directory (wp-content/plugins). Once you have uploaded a plugin to your WordPress plugin directory, activate it from the Plugins Management page.

Things to Know Before You Install Plugins

There are a few things you need to know before you begin to install WordPress Plugins.

• Read the readme.txt files accompanying the plugin as well as the author’s website, before you install. You?ll be better informed.
• Know how to download and upload files and how to use FTP.
• You may need to modify WordPress files and templates so it will be handy if you know PHP, HTML, CSS and CHMOD.
• Record any changes you make. Use comments in the code to indicate any changes. You can also keep a text file on your site with notes on all the changes.
• Make backups of your database before installing any plugins in case things go wrong?
• Are you sure that the plugin will work with your version of WordPress? Different Plugins are available for the different versions of WordPress. You can check the plugin compatibility here, Plugins/Plugin_Compatibility. If it isn?t, consider upgrading.

Plugin Installation

Follow these steps when installing a plugin:

1. Backup
2. Inform yourself about the plugin. Read the accompanying readme.txt file and the authors webpage concerning the plugin
3. Upload the plugin to the wp-content/plugins folder in your WordPress directory
4. Make any necessary modification as indicated in the readme.txt file
5. Acitivate the plugin
   1. Access the Plugin Panel in your Administration Panels
   2. Scroll down through the list of Plugins to find the newly installed plugin
   3. Click on the Activate link to turn the Plugin on.

Hiding Plugins When Deactivated

Some plugins have tags within the template files and if the plugin is not activated, the Theme is ?broken? and may not load properly. It is therefore important to be able to detect the plugin. You can use the function_exists() function to do this. It checks whether the plugin exists and uses it if it does. If not then everything works as if the plugin was not installed.

Troubleshooting Plugins

Check the following if you are experiencing problems with your plugin:

1. Have you followed the plugin author’s instructions to the letter?
2. Check that any plugin tags or usage within your template files are correct, spelled right, and placed in the appropriate place
3. Have you uploaded the file to the plugins folder under wp-content. Delete the old version if it is an upgrade.
4. Has the plugin been activated in your Plugin Panel of your Administration Panel.
5. Deactivate and re-activate the plugin. This may solve the problem.
6. Is it the latest version for your version of WordPress?
7. Visit the plugin author’s website to see if someone else is having the same trouble. Perhaps an answer has been posted.
8. Contact the plugin author directly for assistance.
9. Search the Internet for the name of the plugin and the trouble you are having as someone else might have had the same problem and found a fix and posted it on their site.
10. Visit the WordPress Support Forum. You may get assistance there from other users.
11. If the problem persists and you cannot solve it, check to see if there are any similar plugins that you can try instead.

Plugin Management

Plugins are managed from the Plugins Panel in the Administration Panels of your WordPress site. Each plugin has a description of what it does, an author and website to refer to, and a version number. WordPress uses this information to list the plugin. If you installed the plugin and it is not listed then this ?header? information may be missing. The header information looks like this:/*
Plugin Name: Put the plugin name here
Plugin URI: Put the plugin web address here
Description: Describe the plugin here
Version: Put the plugin version number here
Author: Put the authors name her
Author URI: Put the authors web address here
*/
You can add this information yourself by opening the plugin in the Plugin Editor which is accessible from the Plugins Management page.

Activation and Deactivation

You can activate and deactivate each plugin from within the plugin management panel. You can also deactivate all the plugins by using the link at the bottom of the list of plugins. Remember that if you made changes to the WordPress code or template files in order to make the plugin work, then you need to reverse these changes when you deactivate the plugin else WordPress will not work properly.

Uninstalling Plugins

When, for whatever reason you want to uninstall a plugin, check the following:

1. Check the author?s site for instructions on how to uninstall the plugin..
2. Remove any modifications that you made to the WordPress code or template files.
3. Deactivate the plugin.
4. Delete the plugin files from your wp-content/plugins folder.
5. Remember to make the same changes in your site backup files.

Developing Your Own Plugins

If you have knowledge of PHP and you would like to develop your own plugin, then have a look at this helpful list of resources at Plugin Resources.

Thinking of creating your own Theme? Have a look at this helpful article.

Need help with your WordPress installation, themes and plugins? Contact Independent Digital at www.idig.za.net/contact/

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