====== How to Install GetSimple Plugins ======

When you install a plugin there are a few things that you need to do:

  - Unzip your plugin if it came in a ZIP file.
  - Copy all the files that came with your plugin to your server inside the ''/plugins/'' folder with an FTP client.
  - You can view your installed plugins by logging into your GetSimple administration panel, and clicking the [[how_to:plugin_manager|Plugins Tab]].

**Note**: Plugins are no longer enabled by default. A newly installed plugin needs to be 'Activated' under the [[how_to:plugin_manager|Plugins Tab]].
===== Inserting Plugin Code into Themes =====

Some plugins require you to insert a bit of their code into your theme to make it fully operable. However, if the plugin is not activated, it will "break" the Theme and it may report errors or fail to load. It is therefore imperative to prevent the plugin from being detected in case it is turned off.

To detect if a plugin is installed, you can use a simple ''function_exists()'' check. The ''if (function_exists())'' checks for the plugin, and if it exists, it will use it. If it returns ''FALSE'' or "not found", it will ignore the plugin tag and continue loading the page.

<code php><?php
if (function_exists('FUNCTION NAME')) {
  FUNCTION_NAME();
}
?></code>

For example, the plugin [[http://get-simple.info/extend/plugin/pages-excerpts/62|Pages excerpts]] use a function called ''page_excerpt()'' to print out its contents.

<code php><?php
if (function_exists('page_excerpt')) {
   echo page_excerpt('index');
}
?></code>


======Links======
Back to the GetSimple Wiki [[:start|Contents Page]]
==Pages in this Section==
===Plugins===
  * [[Plugins:installation|How to Install GetSimple Plugins]]
  * [[plugins:guide|Plugins Guide]]
  * [[config:multi-user|Multi-User Capabilities]]