Word Press is purposefully light and compact. In other words, it doesn’t have a lot of bells and whistles associated with it when you first get started. The purpose of this is to keep it small, manageable and easy for everybody to use. The fun part of Word Press is the ability to install plug-ins to add features to your site. A plug-in is similar to installing a software program onto your computer. Instead of installing anything onto your computer, the plug-in is installed directly into your site. A list of plug-ins is available at the codex page at Word Press. This is not a complete list and more plug-ins can be found by searching Google. However, by leaving the codex page, you may encounter plug-ins that are not free and not supported by the Word Press community.

Here are a few tips on using plug-ins:

  • Read all of the documentation associated with the plug-in before you download and install it.
  • Make sure that the plug-in is compatible with the version of Word Press you are using. You can find that information by going to your Dashboard. In the box titled “Right Now” you will see what version of WordPress you are using.
  • Read any comments left by others to see if there are any problems being reported and if the developer has responded. A plug-in that is no longer being supported may be one to avoid.
  • Read the installation instructions. Most plug-ins are very easy to install and get working. There are some, however, that require a bit more work and knowledge on php or html code. Depending on your computer skills, you might need some help getting it to work.
  • Some plug-ins come with very little information. Sometimes you just have to go for it. Maybe it’ll work; maybe it won’t.
  • Don’t be afraid to test drive plug-ins. In some cases you may have to install 3 or 4 plug-ins to get the right functionality that you are looking for.

Plug-ins can get quite addictive. Don’t be surprised if you suddenly find yourself spending hours at your computer.