Install a Premium WordPress Plugin

• 28 October 2021
• by: admin
• in: General web hosting
• note: no comments

How to Upload and Install a Premium WordPress Plugin

Premium plugins are not listed in the WordPress Plugin Directory. You’ll most likely purchase a premium plugin from the vendor’s website or a third-party marketplace.

Once you’ve purchased a premium plugin, you download the software in a ZIP file to your computer.

Note: You can also download free plugins from the WordPress Directory and install them using this option. But the first option is the easiest method.

Now, you need to upload your plugin to WordPress.

First, go to your WordPress Admin Dashboard and click on Plugins > Add New:

At the top of the next page, click on the Upload Plugin button:

Next, click on the Choose File button and select the plugin ZIP file you downloaded to your computer previously:

Once you’ve located your file, click on the Install Now button:

WordPress will now upload and install the plugin for you.

Once it’s completed, you’ll see the success message with an Activate Plugin button or Return to Plugin Installer link. Although the plugin is installed, you have to activate it to make it function, so click the Activate Plugin button:

Now, in your Admin Dashboard, you should see a welcome screen for the new plugin:

You may have to enter some more details, including a license key, to finish the setup, so follow the on-screen instructions. You’ll also find a new option for the plugin in the left-hand side menu.

And that’s it! You’ve installed and activated a premium WordPress plugin.

Option 2 – How to Install a WordPress Plugin Manually

Sometimes it may not be possible to use the previous options, for example when your WordPress hosting provider has file restrictions or doesn’t allow automatic installations. In which case, you’ll need to install your WordPress plugin manually using FTP.

First, you need to download the plugin as a ZIP file to your computer. Then, you need to extract the ZIP file on your computer.

Extracting the ZIP file will create a new folder that you’ll need to upload to your website manually using an FTP client.

For the next step, you’ll need your FTP username and password. Your WordPress hosting provider will be able to provide these details if you don’t have them to hand.

Open the FTP client on your computer and connect to your server using the login credentials provided by your web host.

Once connected, you need to find the path /wp-content/plugins/:

Next, upload the plugin folder you extracted from the ZIP file to the /wp-content/plugins/ folder on your web server:

After uploading the plugin folder, you need to check if it installed ok.

In your WordPress Admin Dashboard, click on Plugins in the left-hand menu, and you should see your new plugin successfully installed on the plugins page:

Finally, you need to click on the Activate link below the plugin. Once it’s activated, you may have to enter some more details, including a license key, to finish the setup, so follow the on-screen instructions.

That’s it! You’ve successfully installed your WordPress plugin manually using FTP.