I Thought Plugins Were Just For Bald Guys

Photo by PPDIGITAL

I can title this post with reference to bald guys because I’m 75% bald and I’m sure most of my family would say I’m 99% bald. But that’s ok, I’m holding on to whatever I’ve got left. 🙂

Plugins are bits of software that help other software be more better software – Hopefully. In this article I’ll refer to WordPress as I discuss plugins as well as HTML-Kit. However, many software products have plugins that allow the software to be extended beyond its normal capacity. Let me explain.

In WordPress here is a screen shot of a plugin called SRG Clean Archives:

Click on the image for larger view

A WordPress Plugin extends the capability of WordPress. From the WordPress Plugins menu selection there is a list of plugins. In the screenshot above you can see (barely) the title of the plugin. If you click on the plugin name it will take you directly to the developer’s website to find out more information about the plugin, how to install it, use it and where to download it from.

The next column describing the plugin is the version number of the plugin followed by a brief description of the plugin and what it does. The third column tells you what state the plugin is in – Activate or Deactivate. The fourth and last column allows you to edit the code for that plugin.

Also, if you click on the image above it will show a larger image of the plugin. It will be displayed itself in a plugin. The plugin is called WP lightbox 2. I keep track of my plugins here so folks can see what I have installed.

There are quite a few WordPress plugins around the web. If you download Caroline Middlebrook’s new PDF How to Develop Money-Making Niche Sites with WordPress, she lists some basic plugins that every WordPress blogger should install from the very beginning.

HTML-Kit is a software product to help you create webpages and I wrote about it here. The software has a huge amount of plugins here.

As you can see, plugins act like new additions to your home. You start with a software program that has functionality – like a home. That functionality could be basic or already feature-rich. By adding plugins to existing software (software that allows plugins) you can extend the features and functionality of that software just like you can add rooms or alter rooms in your home to make it fit your needs.

[techtags: Plugins, WordPress, WordPress Plugins, Software Plugins]