There are a few cases when manually installing a WordPress Plugin is appropriate.
- If you wish to control the placement and process of installing a WordPress Plugin.
- If your server does not permit automatic installation of a WordPress Plugin.
- The WordPress Plugin is not in the offical WordPress Plugin Directory.
Installation of a WordPress Plugin manually requires FTP familiarity and the awareness that you may put your site at risk if you install a WordPress Plugin incompatible with the current version or from an unreliable source.
Backup your site completely before proceeding.
To install a WordPress Plugin manually:
- Download your WordPress Plugin to your desktop.
- If downloaded as a zip archive, extract the Plugin folder to your desktop.
- Read through the "readme" file thoroughly to insure you follow the installation instructions.
- With your FTP program, upload the Plugin folder to the wp-content/plugins folder in your WordPress directory online.
- Go to Plugins screen and find the newly uploaded Plugin in the list.
- Click Activate Plugin to activate it.
