WordPress which is one of the most widely used Content Management System comes with a lot of useful features by default, However every beginner wishes to add additional features and functions which can be achieved with the help of Plugins.

If you are a Complete Beginner who want to start a Blog and look forward to learn how to Install a WordPress Plugin, this guide will take you through 3 different ways of Installing a WordPress Plugin.

3 Different ways to Install a WordPress Plugin

The methods are as follows:
1. Installing a Plugin by Search from the Plugins page.
2. Installing a Plugin by upload from the Plugins Upload Page.
3. Installing a Plugin though FTP.

Installing a Plugin by Search from the Plugins Page

This method allows you to install only the free plugins available in the WordPress Repository; In order to Install the desired Plugin, follow the steps mentioned below.

1. Head over to the Plugins tab, and click on Add New which opens the Plugins Page.
2.Type in the name of the Plugin you want to Install in the Search Box and Click on Install Now.
3.The above step allows WordPress to Install the required plugin files from the Repo; Click on Activate.

The successful notification of the Plugin Installation and Activation process is shown by “Plugin Activated”.

Now configure the settings for the plugin to run accordingly (Since every Plugin has a different Configuration settings, we have not mentioned it in this post.)

Installing a Plugin by Upload from Plugins Upload Page

This method is applicable for Premium Plugins and Plugins from third party sites, since these plugins are not listed in the Plugin directory, it cannot be Installed using the Search Method.

This method requires you to download the plugin from the source after which the following steps should be performed.

1.In order to Install the Plugin head over to plugins tab and click on Add New.
2. As shown in the screenshot below, click on Upload Plugin that allows you to upload the plugin file (which is in the zip format).

3.Select the source of the plugin from your computer and click on Install Now.

4. On Successful Installation, a success notification page appears from where you can activate the plugin by clicking on Activate Plugin.

Finally you have successfully installed and activated the plugin and can now configure the settings for the plugin to run accordingly.

Installing a Plugin through FTP

Personally Speaking, for a beginner who has just started with their Blog, We don’t recommend Installing the plugin through FTP.

However you can go for this method only if you encounter any problem such as Any Restriction of files from your Web Hosting Provider (which is the most common case).

Coming to the Installation of Plugin through FTP requires an FTP Client such as Filezilla. You can access your Host through the FTP Client which requires you to have a username and password, if you don’t have the credentials you can ask your Web Hosting Provider.

After logging in, you can locate the plugins folder by following the path /wp-content/plugins. Extract the downloaded plugin on your computer followed by uploading the extracted folder at /wp-content/plugins.

Now click on the Plugins tab present on the left hand side of your WordPress Dashboard, As shown I have installed the SEO Plugin by Yoast, Click on Activate and configure the settings of the Plugin accordingly.