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CHAPTER 1 AN INTRODUCTION TO PLUGINS
page. Click the Browser button and select the
plugin zip fi le you want to install. After you
select the plugin, click the Install Now button,
as shown in Figure 1 - 3.
The third and fi nal method to install a plugin
in WordPress uses File Transfer Protocol
(FTP). Using FTP is simply connecting to your
web server using an FTP client and manually
uploading the plugin to your WordPress
installation. To use this method upload the uncompressed plugin folder or fi le to the
wp - content/
plugins
directory on your web server.
Managing Plugins
After you install a plugin in WordPress, you can manage it, along with all other plugins, under
the Plugins ➪ Plugins screen. Here you can fi nd a list of all plugins, active or not, available in your
WordPress installation. You can easily activate, deactivate, edit, update, and delete plugins from
this screen.
The Plugin screen also features bulk actions for activating, deactivating, updating, and deleting
plugins. Check all the plugins you want to manage and then select the appropriate bulk action
from the drop - down menu. This process makes managing multiple plugins a breeze!
Editing Plugins
WordPress features a built - in plugin editor under the Plugins ➪ Editor screen. The plugin editor
enables you to view and edit the source code of any plugin installed in WordPress. Keep in mind
you can only edit the source code if the plugin fi le is writeable by the web server, otherwise you
can only view the code.
To use the editor, select the plugin from the drop - down menu on the top - left portion of the Edit
Plugins page. The editor lists all fi les associated with the selected plugin. There is also a documentation
lookup feature making it easy to research a specifi c function ’ s purpose in the plugin you are reviewing.
FIGURE 1 - 3
A word of caution when using the built - in plugin editor: A browser doesn ’ t have
an Undo button. There is also no code revision history, so one bad code edit can
crash your entire site with no way to revert the changes back. It ’ s best to use the
code editor for reference only and never use it to edit your plugin fi les.
Plugin Directories
A lesser known fact is WordPress actually features two plugin directories. The primary plugin
directory is located under
wp - content/plugins in a standard WordPress installation. The second,
lesser known, plugin directory is located under
wp - content/mu - plugins . The mu - plugins
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