A WordPress plugin is a piece of software that adds specific new functionality to a WordPress site without requiring any changes to WordPress's own core files. With well over 60,000 free plugins available in the official repository alone, they're a large part of what makes WordPress so genuinely flexible.
Common Plugin Categories
- SEO — Yoast SEO, Rank Math
- Security — Wordfence, Sucuri
- Performance — WP Rocket, W3 Total Cache
- eCommerce — WooCommerce
- Page building — Elementor, Divi
- Forms — WPForms, Gravity Forms
Installing a Plugin
- Through the WordPress dashboard's built-in plugin search, for anything in the official repository
- By manually uploading a zip file, for premium plugins bought outside the repository
Choosing Plugins Sensibly
- Check when a plugin was most recently, actively updated
- Read through genuine user reviews and ratings
- Confirm active compatibility with your specific WordPress version
- Avoid installing more plugins than a site genuinely needs