Adding New Plugins
You may want to install other plugins on your site in the future to add functionality. There are a few places that you can look for plugins:
WordPress.org Plugins - WordPress’ official site, where you can filter by tags and popularity.
Tidy Repo - An independent site that tests and verifies plugins before recommendation.
Code Canyon - A site featuring more than 3,000 custom premium plugins, also filterable.
There are a few things you should look at when considering a new plugin:
Number of downloads. A plugin that has lots of downloads is generally going to be better than one that has very few.
Plugin ratings. Ratings aren’t everything, but overall good ratings are a positive sign.
Plugin reviews. Read through a few reviews of the plugin you’re investigating and see if there are certain complaints that come up again and again.
Last updated. The best plugins are regularly updated to keep up with WordPress updates and add new functionality. You should avoid any plugins that haven’t been updated in a long time.
Support. Some plugins offer support and others do not.
Updating Plugins
We strongly recommend that you keep all plugins up-to-date as outlined below. Plugins are often updated by their authors to keep them up-to-date with changes to WordPress, as well as to add new functionality.
One thing to keep in mind is that plugins are open source - meaning that anyone can create a plugin, and they are not able to be edited by you or Cornershop Creative. If a plugin isn’t working the way you planned, you may want to seek out an alternative.
Since WordPress is an open-source tool that is forever changing, new releases of WordPress core and various plugins are often made available. These new releases typically include bug fixes or new features that improve your site, although sometimes new updates can actually introduce issues and bugs that can hurt your site.
One of the best ways to protect your website from exploits and hacking is simply to keep all your software up-to-date. But we know that WordPress backend maintenance can be a drag (not to mention a bit intimidating), so here’s some help.
Before performing any updates, we strongly recommend that you backup your site database, which can typically be done with a plugin like Backup Buddy or through your web host directly.
To perform updates, follow these steps:
Log in to the WordPress Administrator Interface.
On the top black navigation bar, click on the update icon (i.e. two arrows going in a circle) followed by the number of updates that are available.
This page details which updates are available.
Check the box for the updates that you want to update (typically, you will select all) and then click the button to Update Plugins.
This will update the plugin and bring you to a confirmation screen.
If everything was updated successfully, then check the frontend functionality to ensure that nothing is displaying or functioning incorrectly.
If you generate an error, please contact Cornershop or your hosting provider to help troubleshoot what went wrong.
Plugins Removed from WordPress
Occasionally, WordPress will remove plugins for WordPress.org for various reasons (removed by author, no longer supported, etc). In these cases, we recommend either removing or replacing these plugins as they post security vulnerabilities and potentially future issues down the line as those plugins become incompatible with later versions of WordPress. We also recommend proceeding with caution when removing or replacing plugins as this can cause display and/or functionality to change or break. It is best to make sure to take a fresh backup before proceeding in case you need to revert back.