The plugins add functionalities to the WordPress blogs. Most plugins with various functionalities are free to download. Please find them on plugins site such as WordPress’s site or the other sites.

 Some of the plugins are also represented in the form of widgets. For example is a Visitor Counter plugin. The plugin counts your blog’s visitors and displayed in the sidebar. Another example is a download manager plugin, which adds download functionalities of a WordPress blog.

If you set up a free blog on WordPress.com you cannot install the plugins. But if you build your own blog website and using WordPress software (downloaded from WordPress.org) you can add functionalities of your blog by installing any plugins.

In the WordPress version 2.7 (or higher), the plugins are easier to install. WordPress now provide plugins installation menu. You can install a plugin by selecting one of them from plugin tags. Also you can install it by downloading it first. Here’s how to install plugins you have downloaded to your PC.

After downloading a plugin, login to the WordPress. Select [Plugins] menu and click [Add New] option.

Click [Browse] and navigate to the folder of the plugin you have downloaded. Then, click [Install Now].

On the screen that appears, click [Activate Plugin].

Now you have the plugin installed and active. What you have to do next is configuring the plugin. Each plugin has its own configuration. So, always read installation/configuration procedure of the plugin provided by its programmer.

In the next example is the configuration of Visitor Counter plugin. The configuration is using Widgets options. (Note that the other plugins use the other options or have their own options.) Select [Appearance] and click [Widgets].

Visitor Counter plugin has been listed in the [Available Widgets]. Click [Add] on the [Visitor Counter] widget.

Then the next configuration is similar as configuring a widget.