Plugins and themes

Open the website and go to WordPress › Plugins or WordPress › Themes. Each page lists what is installed, with its version, whether it is active, whether an update is waiting, and whether auto-updates are on.

Install a plugin or theme

1. Click Install plugin or Install theme.
2. Either:
   • stay on the first tab and search the WordPress directory, or browse Featured and Popular, then pick one; or
   • open Upload plugin or Upload theme and choose a ZIP file from your computer (up to 256 MB).
3. Click Install.

Installing doesn’t activate a plugin or theme from the directory. Activate it from the list when you are ready.

An uploaded ZIP must be a real WordPress package: a plugin needs a PHP file with a “Plugin Name” header, and a theme needs a style.css with a “Theme Name” header.

Activate or deactivate

• Plugins: click Activate next to the plugin and confirm Activate plugin. Click Deactivate to turn it off; that happens straight away.
• Themes: click Activate next to the theme and confirm Activate theme. It replaces the active theme straight away.

Tip

Try new plugins and themes on a staging copy first, especially on a shop.

Update

Click Update next to an item that has one waiting. To update everything at once, use Update all on the WordPress › Updates page.

With Safe updates on, Netkeel takes a restore point first, checks the website after the update, and rolls back if it doesn’t come back clean. See Updates.

Choose which ones update automatically

Click Enable auto-updates or Disable auto-updates next to an item. Items with auto-updates on are updated in the website’s weekly update window.

Work on several at once

Tick the items you want. A bar appears at the bottom with:

• Activate and Deactivate (plugins);
• More actions: Enable auto-updates, Disable auto-updates and Delete selected;
• Clear to untick everything.

Delete

Open an item’s menu and choose Delete plugin or Delete theme. Tick the confirmation and confirm. The files are removed from the website.

Caution

Deleting removes the plugin’s or theme’s files. Some plugins also remove their settings and data when deleted. Take a backup first if you might want it back.

Must-use plugins

Plugins marked Must-use load on every request and can’t be turned off from WordPress. Those marked Managed by Netkeel are part of the hosting setup; leave them in place.

If a plugin breaks the site

If the website stops loading after a plugin or theme change, open More › Site down? Recovery at the top of the page and choose Disable all plugins or Activate default theme. See When the site is down.