What is: Plugin
A plugin is basically like an app for your WordPress Website. It allows you to add functionality to the website without having to write out all the lines of code needed to make the website do that thing.Â
For example lets say that you wanted to add a contact form to you website. So when visitors went to your website they could fill out a short form and provide you a way to get into contact with you. It might be just a simple box at the bottom of your webpage, with a space to enter your email and a single button. But behind the scenes there is allot going on before you get an email in your company in box, with that customer provided information. But don’t worry you don’t have to know how to perfectly write all that code.Â
You just have to to go the Official Plugin Directory, by hitting a button in the backend of WordPress. Then you hit the add new button and search for the key terms you’re looking for. We can then see the listing for WPForms Plugin. It tells us what the app was rated and by how many people. It then tells us how many active users the app has. Finally it shows us when was the last time the app was updated. It might even tell us if the app has been designed to run with our version of WordPress. Sometimes when they come out with a new version of WordPress it takes Plugin developers a second to update their Plugin. If we Clicked on the Plugin Listing it will give us more information about the plugin, including screenshots of the plugin. From this directory we can download the Plugin and if we choose to Active it. Â
Some Plugin’s are free, others offer a trial period and then charge you a fee and others ask for a fee to download the plugin. Many of the plugins don’t come with tech support. Some of the Premium Plugins might have tech support. It all just depends. But overall the trend is no support. So if you have an issue you might be on your own. Also there is no guarantee that the Plugins will play nice together. You might add a plugin or update it and it might crash your entire site. Believe me it’s happened to me before, so good luck. Hopefully your Hosting Provider or Web Designer has tech support. McLaskey Designs takes care of all these issues for our clients. I’ll deal with that headache so you don’t have to. If you are a client of mine. Â
So that is the quick dirty breakdown of what a WordPress PlugIn is.Â
