{"id":22,"date":"2007-04-05T20:35:43","date_gmt":"2007-04-06T01:35:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pixelwit.com\/blog\/2007\/04\/05\/intro-to-wordpress-plugins\/"},"modified":"2009-08-13T13:08:01","modified_gmt":"2009-08-13T18:08:01","slug":"intro-to-wordpress-plugins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pixelwit.com\/blog\/2007\/04\/05\/intro-to-wordpress-plugins\/","title":{"rendered":"Intro to WordPress Plugins"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When I first started using <a href=\"http:\/\/wordpress.org\/\">WordPress<\/a> I wasn&#8217;t quite sure what plugins were, what they did or why I might want to use one.<\/p>\n<p>What are WordPress plugins?  Basically, a WordPress plugin is a chunk of code which allows non-technically inclined users to add extra features to their WordPress blog and easily configure those features via the Administration Panel.<\/p>\n<p>What does a WordPress plugin do?  A good plugin adds features to your blog while simplifying your blogging experience. Since the people who comprise the blogging community <!--more-->are a widely varied group, it makes sense that the plugins they use are widely varied as well.  While one blogger might use a plugin to expand and collapse the sections on their sidebar, another blogger might use a plugin to make it easier to add smilies to their posts.  To get a quick idea of the most popular features being added to WordPress blogs, check out the official <a href=\"http:\/\/wordpress.org\/extend\/plugins\/tags\/\">WordPress Plugins Page<\/a>.  Currently plugins which help bloggers manage their <a href=\"http:\/\/wordpress.org\/extend\/plugins\/tags\/post\">Posts<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/wordpress.org\/extend\/plugins\/tags\/comments\">Comments<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/wordpress.org\/extend\/plugins\/tags\/widget\">Widgets<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/wordpress.org\/extend\/plugins\/tags\/images\">Images<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/wordpress.org\/extend\/plugins\/tags\/stats\">Stats<\/a> are at the top of the list.<\/p>\n<p>Why use WordPress plugins?  Plugins allow you to add a variety of features ranging from the simple to the complex yet they require only basic computer skills to install and use.   Simplicity and Power rarely mesh together so well.<\/p>\n<p>How do you install WordPress plugins?  Once you&#8217;ve found a plugin which you&#8217;d like to install it&#8217;s very important that you follow the plugin author&#8217;s specific installation instructions.  Most instructions will include the following steps:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Download the plugin from a trusted source.<\/li>\n<li>Save it to a safe place on your PC.<\/li>\n<li>If necessary, decompress it while maintaining its directory structure.<\/li>\n<li>Upload it to your &#8220;wp-content\/plugins\/&#8221; directory.<\/li>\n<li>Login to your WordPress administration panel.<\/li>\n<li>Open the &#8220;Plugins&#8221; section.<\/li>\n<li>Locate the new plugin in the &#8220;Plugin Mangement&#8221; table and and press the &#8220;activate&#8221; link.<\/li>\n<li>Begin using the plugin as prescribed by its author.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Once installed, plugins can be activated, deactivated and otherwise managed via the WordPress Administration panel.  Some plugins don&#8217;t have any user defined options and are merely turned on or off through the Admin Panel&#8217;s Plugins tab while other plugins can tuck their options away under any tab they choose.  This emphasizes the importance of reading and following the plugin author&#8217;s directions. <\/p>\n<p>Coming soon, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pixelwit.com\/blog\/2007\/04\/wordpress-plugin-recommendation\/\">plugin recommendations<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Learn about WordPress plugins, which ones are good, where to get them, and how to install your favorite plugins.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[44,20],"class_list":["post-22","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-site-development","tag-plugin","tag-wordpress"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pixelwit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pixelwit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pixelwit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pixelwit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pixelwit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.pixelwit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pixelwit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pixelwit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pixelwit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}