How To Add A Plugin + Essential WordPress Plugins For Food Bloggers

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Plugins have a history. They’re either loved or feared. I’d say the reason why they’re so scary to many new bloggers is due to the misconception that you need to know coding in other to use a plugin. You do not! Most of them are very easy to install and use.

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In today’s post, I will explain how to install a plugin in WordPress, but first, let me explain what a plugin is.

What are plugins?

According to WordPress.org,

Plugins are ways to extend and add to the functionality that already exists in WordPress.

They are nicely packaged pieces of code created by developers.

They are easily downloaded or installed and add extra functionality to your blog. You can use plugins to do almost anything on a wordpress.org blog.  As time goes on, you will begin to understand exactly what I mean. 🙂

Here is the simple process of how to add a plugin in WordPress.

Step#1 Go  To Plugins>Add New

Step#2: Use the Search bar to find a plugin you want or like. See list of recommended plugins for beginners below.

Step#3: After you’ve searched for a plugin and it appears (in my case, I searched for the wordfence plugin), Click on Install Now.

Step#4: Click Activate.

That’s it! You have now learned the process of how to install a plugin in WordPress! Follow this exact process to install any plugin of your choice.

Here is a list of plugins recommended for beginners. I explain briefly what they’re good for and link to a video tutorial on how to set each up after it’s been installed and activated on your blog.

1. Akismet: This plugin is used mainly for blocking spam comments on your blog. With this plugin, you’re able to moderate all your comments before they go live. Click here for a simple video on how to set up Akismet.
2. Rank Math SEO: This plugin will come in handy when it’s time to write your blog posts. It is a very good guide to Search Engine Optimisation. I’ll put a pin in this for now and explain what SEO is in more detail on Day 6 of the blogging course.
3. Wordfence: Awesome for securing your WordPress blog. Here is a video on how to set it up after it’s installed and activated.
4.  Contact Form 7: This is a great plugin to have on your blog. It helps you set up an easy contact form on any page of your blog. Click here to see how to set it up.
5. WP Smush: This is a plugin that will decrease the size of your images automatically so your website loads faster. Food bloggers add lots of images to their posts, so I highly recommend this plugin from the start. If you plan to add images to your blog posts, this plugin, or another like it, is definitely a staple since large image sizes can drastically slow down the load time of your blog. Click here for a video tutorial on WP Smush.
6. Create by Mediavine: A free recipe card plugin that helps you add recipes, or how-to tutorials to a blog post. You can see how Create by Mediavine works right here.
7.  WordPress Popular Posts: This plugin allows your most popular posts to display on your sidebar. Click here to see how it works. Click here for a video tutorial.
8. UpdraftPlus (Backup and Restoration):  You absolutely must back up your blog on a regular basis, and this plugin does a very great job. It automatically backs things up and makes it easy for you to restore a previous backup if necessary. Click here for a video tutorial.