Manage Plugins and Themes Manually

With WordPress®, it’s easy to add functionality, new features, and beautiful designs to your website through plugins and themes.¹ And even though you can install and update them through the wp-admin dashboard, you can also easily install and update them manually through the dashboard or by using SFTP. You can also use LocalWP to update plugins and themes.

This guide will walk you through how to manually install and update plugins and themes on your WordPress website.

Install a Plugin

The first step is to locate the plugin on the Plugin Repository OR directly from the developer of the plugin, and download the package to your computer.

Be sure to save this file on your computer where you can easily find it later!

Install a Plugin in WP-Admin

If you’d like to install a new plugin or update an existing plugin manually through the wp-admin dashboard, follow these steps:

1. Log in to your website’s wp-admin dashboard
2. Visit the Plugins tab
3. Click Add New Plugin at the top of the page (/wp-admin/plugin-install.php)
   
4. Click Upload Plugin at the top of the page
   
5. Locate and select the plugin ZIP
6. Click Install Now
7. If you’re updating a plugin instead of installing a new one, click Replace current with uploaded
   
8. Click Activate Plugin

That’s it! Your plugin is now installed, active, and ready to use on your website.

Install a Plugin with SFTP

If you prefer not to use the wp-admin dashboard, or you can’t access it, you can use SFTP to install a new plugin or update an existing one. Follow these steps:

1. If the plugin package you have downloaded is zipped, you will need to unzip the package locally before it can be uploaded.
2. Connect to your website using SFTP
3. Navigate to wp-content
4. Navigate into plugins
5. Drag and drop the plugin file into the plugins directory. Or to update a plugin, overwrite the contents of the existing plugin directory with the new files

To activate the plugin, visit the Plugins page of the wp-admin dashboard and click Activate. Or use the WP-CLI command wp plugin activate [plugin-name] over SSH Gateway.

Install a Theme

The first step of installing or updating a theme is to locate the theme on the Theme Repository, or get it directly from the developer, and download the package to your computer.

Be sure to save this file on your computer where you can easily find it later!

Now you can decide whether you’d like to install the theme through the wp-admin dashboard or by using SFTP.

Install a Theme in WP-Admin

If you’d like to install a new theme or update an existing theme manually through the wp-admin dashboard, follow these steps:

1. Log in to your website’s wp-admin dashboard
2. Click the Appearance tab
3. Select Themes
4. Click Add New Theme at the top of the page (/wp-admin/theme-install.php)
   
5. Click Upload Theme
   
6. Locate and select the theme ZIP
7. Click Install Now
8. Click Activate Theme

That’s it! Your theme is now installed, active, and ready to use on your website.

Install a Theme with SFTP

If you prefer not to use the wp-admin dashboard, or you can’t access it, you can use SFTP to install a new theme or update an existing one. Follow these steps:

1. If the theme package you have downloaded is zipped, you will need to unzip the package locally before you can upload it.
2. Connect to your website using SFTP
3. Navigate to wp-content
4. Navigate into themes
5. Drag and drop the theme file into the theme directory. Or to update a theme, overwrite the contents of the existing theme directory with the new files

To activate the theme, visit the Appearance > Theme page of the wp-admin dashboard and click Activate. Or use the WP-CLI command wp theme activate [theme-name] over SSH Gateway.

Update with Local

Updating your website has never been easier than with Local. With Local you can update WordPress plugins and themes, then push the changes to Flywheel.

Here’s how to update WordPress plugins or themes using Local:

1. Download and install Local (for free!) to your computer. If you’ve already downloaded Local, ensure you’re updated to the latest release.
2. Connect to Flywheel.
3. Pull your website to Local. To do that, create a new site (use the plus + icon in the bottom left-hand corner) OR select an existing Local site to pull to. Then pull your site down to Local using the Pull button in the bottom right-hand corner.
   
4. Launch the wp-admin dashboard using the “WP Admin” button at the top of your site on the Local App (Pro-tip: Turn on one-click admin and be automatically logged in!)
   
5. Update and manage your WordPress plugin and theme versions as you normally would from your Local website’s WP Admin Dashboard.
6. Finally, push your updates back to WP Engine easily using Local Connect. To do that, click Push in the bottom right-hand corner and choose your destination environment. We recommend excluding the database and selecting only the plugins or themes folder using the Select Files option, when relevant.
   

Need help?

If you have any questions, our Happiness Engineers are here to help!