{"id":20497,"date":"2026-11-03T12:45:27","date_gmt":"2026-11-03T11:45:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/surver.nl\/kennisbank\/wordpress-plugins-installeren-beheren-en-updaten\/"},"modified":"2026-11-03T14:46:22","modified_gmt":"2026-11-03T13:46:22","slug":"installing-managing-and-updating-wordpress-plugins","status":"publish","type":"kennisbank","link":"https:\/\/surver.nl\/en\/kennisbank\/wordpress-plugins-installeren-beheren-en-updaten\/","title":{"rendered":"Installing, Managing, and Updating WordPress Plugins"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Installing,<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Your site is missing a contact form, a cookie banner, or a better search function\u2014and there\u2019s a plugin for just about every need. You can install a WordPress plugin via Plugins > Add New Plugin<\/strong>, where you locate the plugin and click on Install Now<\/strong> and then Activate<\/strong> clicks. Managing them means regularly updating plugins after backing them up, and not only deactivating but also deleting plugins you no longer use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Choosing a Good Plugin<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You can recognize a good plugin by its recent updates, compatibility testing with the current version of WordPress, a large number of active installations, and a support forum where questions are still being answered. Anyone can publish in the official plugin library on wordpress.org, so quality isn\u2019t guaranteed. All these indicators are listed on the plugin page, in the right-hand column with details. I skip any plugin that hasn\u2019t been updated in over a year, no matter how good the description sounds. There\u2019s a good chance the developer has stopped working on it, which means new security vulnerabilities won\u2019t be patched anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My second rule of thumb is one plugin per function. Having two SEO plugins or two caching plugins running side by side can cause them to conflict with each other, and that kind of duplication is a classic source of vague errors that don\u2019t become apparent until weeks later. On Surver\u2019s shared hosting plans, LiteSpeed Cache is already installed by default, so a second caching plugin is unnecessary there. You can read about why that\u2019s the case in Caching in WordPress Explained<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Incidentally, the number of plugins isn\u2019t as important as you might think. A site with twenty well-maintained plugins can be faster and more secure than a site with five poorly built ones. What matters is that each plugin has a clear purpose and that someone is keeping it up to date. The broader context\u2014including how to choose a theme\u2014is covered in the guide Choosing and Managing Plugins and Themes<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Installing and Activating a Plugin<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You can install a plugin from the dashboard, from the library, or as a ZIP file. Here's how it works in practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Go to Plugins > Add New Plugin<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n
  2. Search for the plugin by name and check the developer, because names often sound similar.<\/li>\n\n
  3. Click on Install Now<\/strong> and then on Activate<\/strong>. If you have a paid plugin as a ZIP file, click at the top on Upload a plugin<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n
  4. Go through the plugin's settings. Most plugins add their own menu item.<\/li>\n\n
  5. View the front end of your site and test the feature the plugin is supposed to provide.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    That last step is most often skipped, even though that\u2019s exactly where you\u2019ll spot a conflict with your theme or another plugin early on. A paid plugin usually also requires a license key to receive updates. Enter it right away; otherwise, you\u2019ll end up with a plugin that will never be updated again without even realizing it. If you prefer to work from the command line, you can install and activate a plugin in one step using wp plugin install contact-form-7 --activate<\/code>. WP-CLI is included in all of Surver's shared hosting plans, just like SSH.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Updating Plugins Safely<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    The safest way to update plugins is to first create a backup, then update them one by one, and immediately check whether your site is still working. Outdated plugins are one of the main entry points for hackers, so putting it off isn\u2019t an option. At the same time, an update can sometimes cause issues, usually due to a conflict with your theme, another plugin, or your PHP version. You can create a backup yourself in Installatron, and you can read about how to restore it in Restoring a WordPress Backup<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Whenever there's a major version update, I always take a moment to read the changelog\u2014the list of changes on the plugin page. For an online store, a payment plugin, or a page builder, I prefer to test the update first in a staging environment<\/a>, a copy of your site that you create in Installatron by cloning your installation. After the update, check the pages where the plugin is active, your forms, and\u2014if you have an online store\u2014the checkout process. It\u2019s better to update a few plugins each week\u2014including this check\u2014than to update thirty at once every quarter. If something goes wrong with that large batch, it\u2019s nearly impossible to figure out which plugin caused the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    You can enable automatic updates for each plugin via the link Enable automatic updates<\/strong> in the plugin overview. I only do that for small, stable plugins. I keep critical plugins for payments, forms, and caching set to manual, so I can choose the timing myself. To learn how plugin updates fit into core and theme maintenance, read Update WordPress<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Deactivate, Remove, and Clean Up<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    If you no longer use a plugin, you should deactivate it and then delete it, because a deactivated plugin still remains on your server as code. An inactive plugin no longer performs any functions in WordPress, but with some vulnerabilities, someone could still access the files directly. Only after Delete<\/strong> They\u2019re really gone. If you\u2019re not sure whether a plugin still serves a purpose, deactivate it for a week and see if you notice anything missing. Pay special attention to shortcodes\u2014the snippets of text enclosed in square brackets that a plugin replaces on a page with a form or slider. After you remove the plugin, they\u2019ll suddenly appear as plain text on your page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Schedule a clean-up session twice a year. Go through the list below Plugins > Installed plugins<\/strong> Go through them, remove anything that\u2019s inactive, and ask yourself whether each active plugin still deserves to be there. Many plugins leave settings in the database after they\u2019re removed. This is usually harmless, but be careful with options like \u2018delete all data upon uninstallation\u2019 in form or online store plugins, as these can erase submissions or orders. You can find out how to identify and replace abandoned and outdated plugins in Clean up outdated plugins<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    If a plugin breaks your site<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    If your site breaks after an installation or update, the first thing you should do is deactivate the plugin you last modified. WordPress will often send an email to the administrator\u2019s address with a link to recovery mode, which allows you to access the dashboard despite the error. If you see the message \u2018A critical error has occurred\u2019<\/a> or a completely blank page, then the article about the white screen of death<\/a> continue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    If you can't access the dashboard at all, open File Manager in cPanel and rename the plugin's folder to wp-content\/plugins<\/code>, for example, to plugin-name-off<\/code>. WordPress will then disable the plugin on its own. With WP-CLI, you can do the same with wp plugin deactivate plugin-name<\/code>. If you don't know which plugin is causing the problem, rename the entire folder plugins<\/code> and then put them back one by one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    At Surver, we make sure you have all the tools you need\u2014from File Manager to WP-CLI\u2014with daily backups and malware scans running in the background via Imunify. The actual updating is still your responsibility, unless you outsource it. Within WordPress maintenance<\/a> We update the core, themes, and plugins on a monthly basis, and for Enterprise, we test updates on the staging environment first. Are you running on Managed WordPress Hosting<\/a>, then that foundation is already in place for you. You can read more about identifying conflicts in Site Down After an Update<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    What is the maximum number of plugins I can use?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    There's no set number. It's about quality and maintenance, not quantity. Don't use more than you need\u2014one per function\u2014and get rid of what you don't use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Are free plugins safe?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Free plugins from the official library are fine, as long as they\u2019re actively maintained. Never download paid plugins for free from other sites. These \u2018nulled\u2019 plugins often contain malware, and if something does go wrong, we\u2019ll help you through WordPress hacked<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Does Surver update my plugins?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    With hosting only, you do that yourself. If you sign up for WordPress maintenance and management, Surver will update your plugins monthly\u2014with a level of monitoring that varies by package\u2014and, starting with the Business plan, will scan for vulnerabilities daily.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Je site mist een contactformulier, een cookiebanner of een betere zoekfunctie, en voor vrijwel elke wens bestaat een plugin. Een WordPress-plugin installeer je via Plugins > Nieuwe plugin toevoegen, waar je de plugin zoekt en op Nu installeren en daarna Activeren klikt. Beheren betekent vervolgens dat je plugins regelmatig bijwerkt na een back-up, en plugins […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20496,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"kennisbank_categorieen":[57],"class_list":["post-20497","kennisbank","type-kennisbank","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","kennisbank_categorieen-plugins"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/surver.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/kennisbank\/20497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/surver.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/kennisbank"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/surver.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/kennisbank"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/surver.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/surver.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/surver.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"kennisbank_categorieen","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/surver.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/kennisbank_categorieen?post=20497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}