The steps for installing a plugin are simple:
- Find your plugin
- Download it to your WordPress site, either manually or through the automatic installer
- Install and activate it
- Configure it (if necessary)
There are two ways to get the plugin into your WordPress installation:
- Install it manually
- Install it directly from within wp-admin
The first option—installing plugins manually—generally requires a bit more effort than the second one, but sometimes it's the only way to work with certain plugins (mostly premium ones). The second option—installing from within the wp-admin—is generally quicker and easier, but it's not possible in all cases. You need to be on a server that's configured correctly, in a way that lets WordPress add files (we talked about installing WordPress and server configuration in Chapter 2, Getting Started with WordPress). Plus, the plugin you want to install has to be available in the WordPress plugin repository, that is, the official plugin directory.
In the following section, we'll go over the auto-installation first (since it's easier to do), and then handle the manual method.