Plugins

 

We get into the management and use of WordPress plugins in detail in Book VII; however, for the purposes of this section, we discuss the functions of the Plugins module in the Dashboard.

The Plugins module includes three titles of WordPress plugins that are

linked to its individual plugin page within the WordPress Plugin Directory.
The Plugins module pulls information via RSS feed from the official
WordPress Plugin Directory at http://wordpress.org/extend/
plugins. This module displays a plugin from three different plugin

categories in the official WordPress Plugin Directory: Most Popular,

Newest Plugins, and Recently Updated.

The Plugins module doesn’t have an Edit link, so you can’t customize the information that it displays. Use this module to discover new plugins that can help you do some fun and exciting things with your blog.

The Plugins module does have a very exciting feature that you can use to install, activate, and manage plugins on your blog. Just follow these steps to make it happen:

1. Click the Install link next to the title of the plugin.

The Plugin Information pop-up window opens. It displays the various

bits of information about the plugin you chose, such as title, description, version, author, date last updated, and the number of times the plugin was downloaded.

2. Click the Install Now button.

This button appears at the top right of the Plugin Information window.

The Plugin Information window closes, and the Install Plugins page in your
WordPress Dashboard opens, displaying a confirmation message that the
plugin has been downloaded, unpacked, and successfully installed.

3. Specify whether to activate the plugin or proceed to the Plugins page.
Two links appear below the confirmation message:

•  Activate Plugin: Activate the plugin you just installed on your blog.

•  Return to Plugins Page: Go to the Manage Plugins page.

We cover the installation and activation of WordPress plugins in further depth in Book VII.

4. Click the Dashboard link to return to the Dashboard.

The Dashboard link appears at the top of the left menu on every page of your WordPress Dashboard.