Some tasks are repetitive, for example, after installing WordPress on your or your client’s website, you’ll need to install the usual plugins (let’s say your most recommended plugins). These plugins can be for caching, SEO purpose, displaying related content, displaying social buttons and more. However, instead of manually installing each and every plugin which is a time consuming task, how about an easy solution.
While you can always search for plugins, get results and click on “Install” button, there’s one more way that you would really like, especially if you’re planning to install more than just a handful of plugins.
Bulk Plugin Installation is a new plugin that has been recently added to the WordPress.org plugin repository, which allows you to install one or more plugins simply by typing their names or download URLs in the text area provided.
After installing this plugin, go to Plugins > Add New. From here, you’ll be able to see a new text area section. As per the instruction provided in this page, all you have to do is to enter the name of the plugin, plugin page URLs or the direct URLs to the zip files, one per each line (as you can see in the below screenshot).
Once you do this, simply hit the “Install now” button. The plugin will directly start installing all your listed plugins, and therefore make sure that you don’t have any spelling mistake in the name of the plugin.
Let’s say you want to install the W3 Total Cache plugin. You can enter it in different way such as:
- W3 Total Cache
- http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/w3-total-cache/
- http://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/w3-total-cache.0.9.2.5.zip
If you enter the direct download URL, then it’s not necessary that the plugin should be hosted at WordPress.org, the plugin can be installed from third party websites also.
If you frequently set-up WordPress for your clients or for testing sites, then this plugin can save you some real time, plus it can speed up the boring process. What’s more, you can also keep a simple text file where you can list out the name of the plugins that you normally install and then paste it in the text area to install all those plugins at once.