Everything You Need To Know About WordPress Plugins For Your Website?
What is a WordPress Plugin?
The WordPress plugin is a tool for improving the style of your website and adding new functionality. They can enhance existing features and add new features to your WordPress website. A plugin, in other words, is a piece of code that may be added to your WordPress website. If you need any additional functionality on your WordPress website, you can install a plugin to meet your needs. That’s all there is to it. Installing a new plugin on your Custom WordPress website just takes about 2-3 minutes. One of the benefits of using WordPress is that WordPress developers have created a large number of WordPress plugins that you can use to enhance your site. Plugins can be used to make minor to major modifications to your website. WordPress plugins are created in a PHP language that has been integrated with WordPress. There are various free plugins available in the official WordPress plugins directory; but, if you want to use those plugins, you must employ a WordPress Developer for proficiency.
Assume you need a contact form for your website. You can do this by installing a plugin that includes a ready-to-use contact form with extensive capabilities. You can change the code to suit your needs. Without writing a single line of code, you can add a contact form to your website with a few clicks with the contact form plugin. This is only one example of a contact form.
Advantages of Using a Plugin Include
- A plugin can be used to construct an eCommerce store.
- Any specific functionality can be incorporated to your website, as well as any style of contact form.
- Various forms of social buttons can be included.
- A table layout can be created.
- A reservation system can be created.
- And there are several other things that the WordPress plugin can perform.
How to Find Plugin
The CMS WordPress is simple on its own. WordPress plugins, both free and paid extensions that add custom functionality to your website. There are over 55,000 WordPress plugins available for download; you can choose which ones to install to start reaping the benefits of additional functionality based on the demands of your website. Whatever your goal, there’s certain to be a plugin (or a few) that can help you get there. Using the best WordPress plugins to improve the functionality of your website is simple. WordPress plugins can be installed, activated, and used in a matter of minutes. We’ll teach you how in this post.
The official WordPress website is a great place to look for plugins (wordpress.org). WordPress also provides a number of free plugins.
Even the most usable plugin WooCommerce is Free and is used to build an Ecommerce store on WordPress. Furthermore, many other companies offer both free and paid plugins. The WordPress dashboard is another place to look for plugins. Go to the WordPress Dashboard and select the Plugins widget, where you will see the ADD NEW option. You will be taken to a separate page after clicking on it. A slew of plugins have already appeared on this page. Now, in the search bar, type the name of the plugin and install it. Furthermore Google is the simplest approach to find plugins. If you want a contact form plugin, all you have to do is Google it with your keyword (for example, contact form WordPress plugin) and select the suitable plugin based on your needs.
How Do You Install a Plugin?
You are now aware about the best WordPress plugins. The next thought that may come to mind is how to install a WordPress plugin on an existing or new website. To begin, there are three methods for installing the plugin.
- The first method is to use the WordPress dashboard to search for and install plugins. (Go to the Plugin widget, select Add New, and then search for the plugin you wish to install.)
- Zip files is the second method. (Go to the Plugin widget and click Add New, where you’ll find an Upload Plugin button in the top left corner.)
- The third method is to FTP a plugin into the files. (Open FTP and navigate to the website files, then select the theme, then click to wp-content, then click to WordPress themes, and finally upload the plugin’s file.) This is how a plugin gets installed.
How To Activate Plugin?
After the plugin has been installed, the following step is to activate it. There are numerous methods for activating the plugin. If you installed a plugin through the dashboard, you will notice the active button after installation; simply click on it. If you’ve already pasted the.zip file into the theme files, go to the WordPress dashboard and select the Plugins widget. There, you can view all of the plugins that are already installed on your website. Scroll to the plugin, and beneath it, you’ll notice two options labeled SETTINGS and ACTIVATE; simply click the ACTIVATE button, and your plugin will be activated instantly.
Best WordPress Plugins
There is a type of plugins that should be installed on every WordPress website for better optimization and safety control with ease.
WordPress Security
One of the first things that comes to mind is website security. In fact, everyone should think about this before doing anything. In the online world, there might be numerous security and internet difficulties. Install a security plugin to defend your website against spyware and unknown threats.
Yes! One of the most crucial features of any internet business is security. It makes no difference if you have a large corporation or a small to medium scale business website. Hackers attack everyone. Each week, more than 18 million websites are attacked with malware. While the core WordPress program is extremely secure, the plugins and WordPress themes you install might expose your website to vulnerabilities.
If Your Website Is Attacked:
- It will seriously harm your business.
- harmed your brand’s reputation.
- Influence your search engine rankings.
The Following Features Will Be Included in a Security Plugin:
- Protect your website from brute force assaults, which occur when a hacker guesses your login information.
- Keep sensitive website files safe.
- Filter off spam from contact form plugins.
- When a security threat is found, it notify you.
Website Backup
Every WordPress website should have a backup plugin installed in order to save critical information. Many people keep WordPress backup with their hosting company. You can do so, especially if it is included in your web hosting service or is provided for free. However, it is always preferable to maintain a separate backup. If your hosting server fails or you are unable to access your wp-admin panel, you will need your own backup to restore or transfer your site. This is why a WordPress backup plugin is always recommended. There are numerous WordPress backup plugins, but finding the best ones is simple if you know what to search for. A solid backup plugin not only makes it simple to backup your site, but it also makes it simple to restore it when necessary.
What We Look for in a WordPress Backup Plugin
1. Backup of the Entire Website
Your website files and database must be included in your backup copy. You might think this is obvious, however many plugins simply backup your files and not the database. As a result, you must ensure that a thorough backup of all your website data is taken.
2. Backups That Are Incremental
Backing up your website can put a strain on your server. This can cause your website to slow down while the process is running. However, if the plugin uses incremental technology, it will divide your website into little bits and produce a duplicate of your site without putting any strain on your server.
3. Storage That Is Secure
All of your website’s data, including critical information, is saved in a backup. So, just as you would safeguard your website, you should protect your backup by encrypting it and storing it in secure locations. Look for plugins that provide auto encryption as well as numerous storage places.
4. Offsite Storage
Some plugins and hosts provide backups, but the copy is stored on the same server as your website. As a result, if your server fails, you lose both your website and its backup. It is safest to have a copy offline on another server or in local storage.
5. Scheduled Backups
The best way to save recent changes on a frequent basis is to schedule backups to run on their own. This means that new backups will be taken at regular intervals.
6. Backups in Real Time
Real-time backups are required if you run an online store. This ensures that every new order placed is instantly saved, ensuring that no transaction information is lost. Instead of running a whole backup each time, a good backup plugin will backup only the change and add it to the backup copy.
7. Responsive Support:
When it comes to backups, you’ll almost always need to contact the plugin’s support staff to resolve issues with the setup, backup, and restore processes. Verify that your plugin is supported by a trustworthy support team.
Contact Form
Every website must have a contact form where your target audience can reach to you.
What do customers discover when they visit your (or your client’s) website to learn how to contact the company? They can come upon a live chat box in the site’s bottom corner or a phone number to contact. While these are excellent customer service solutions, it is critical to have numerous channels for customers to contact you. People are, after all, busy. They don’t have the time to talk on the phone or chat with a Virtual Assistant (VA), especially if it takes their attention away from their current work.
This is one of the reasons why email remains one of the most convenient and cost-effective methods of communication, and why it should be an option for company websites. Customers can use an email form to send a quick note and react at their leisure. Furthermore, contact forms allow you to direct emails to the appropriate department for response.