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We’ve talked about some different blog concerns one needs to take care of when blogging. Things like writing a disclaimer and being careful about copyright. But you know what? If you don’t have a functioning site none of that matters! With wordpress sites I’ve learned you need to use something called “plugins”. Plugins are what make a wordpress site safe (from spam) and functional (like being able to put youtube videos easily).
I am SO not a technologically savvy person that I was left feeling VERY stumped by this. I actually was causing me a lot of stress trying to sort it out. I talked about I thought I would share the advice that Kim Mills shared with me, along with some pictures (and if I can find some) videos on how to install them.
What advice did I receive?
Kim’s advice was three-fold
- Get what you need. If you want something you can probably find a plug-in that will do it.
- Don’t get more than you need. Too many plug-ins will slow down your site.
- Only get things with good reviews that are kept up-to-date.
Then she very helpfully got me on with Akismet anti-spam, Yoast, and Updraft and a few others. I was so blessed by her help. 🙂
There are so many things to consider when you have a wordpress site that you don’t have to think about with other blog platforms. I am POSITIVE I haven’t even scratched the surface. Which of course brings me to the question of just how does one install a plug-in?
How to Install a Plugin
First you need to search out what you are looking for:
When you find one that you like, check out it’s details.
Make sure you check out when it was last updated. I know from personal experience most plugins are updated at least once a month, and also after wordpress does any update. Check out what other people think of the plugin and dont accept any that have more negative reviews than positive.
Be aware of any warnings that might pop up.
I had thought about downloading this one based on the recommendations from others, but the warnings and lack of updating steered me away. I still haven’t found one that I like. Any suggestions?
Anyways, install your plugin, don’t forget to activate it! Kim suggested trying things out on a child site (but I have really NO CLUE what she is talking about) because apparently some plugins don’t play well with each other and if you try it out on a child site then you don’t mess up your working site. But I have no idea how to go about setting something like that up. Something to research eh?
I hope you found this helpful, it was good to remind myself of what steps to take with plugins. 🙂
I found this video that you might find helpful.
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