How to Download Plugin Files WordPress without FTP or cPanel
We understand the frustration you get each time you want to download plugin files and have to log in to cPanel or through FTP.
It’s hard to navigate and includes so many steps. But downloading plugin files doesn’t have to be that hard. With the “Download Plugins and Themes from Dashboard” plugin we’ve made things a lot easier for you.
Why Not FTP?
FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is an internet communication protocol that governs the communication between 2 applications, or devices to transfer files.
FTP issues boil down to one thing: Security. FTP is not inherently secure to transfer data. It doesn’t have any standard encryption method; therefore, all data payload is shared as plain text such as: username, password, and the data itself, making it easy for malicious third parties to intercept the communication.
To solve the security issues, business owners turn to FTP solutions, these solutions could be hosted by a third-party vendor or self-hosted. Self-hosted FTP is difficult to set up and may not be viable for non-tech savvy individuals, so most businesses turn to hosted FTP solutions, which is a third vendor who manages the FTP connection, data storage, and ensures its security. This adds an extra layer of difficulty to set things up, and may not work for everyone as it may not be worth the cost and hassle.
This is where our plugin comes to rescue, it is incredibly easy to set up while you’re still within the WordPress ecosystem.
How Does It Work?
Dealing with this plugin is no rocket science at all, once installed and activated a “Download ZIP” option will show up in your installed plugins menu and your themes menu.
Also there are Download all plugins and/or themes tools in “Settings > Download Plugins and Themes”.
If you want to append the version number to the ZIP filename, and/or if you want the main plugin’s or theme’s directory to be included in ZIP you can set it in “Settings > Download Plugins and Themes”.
Advanced settings include selecting different ZIP libraries (ZipArchive or PclZip), and setting a custom temporary directory on your server.
If you want to download your plugins or themes periodically so you don’t have to worry about it you can upgrade to the pro version of the plugin which offers a “set it and forget it” option so you don’t have to worry about downloading your plugins and themes again.
Why WPFactory’s Plugin?
Fast, efficient, and easy to use.
It might not be a great invention, but it surely will make your life a lot easier and will make editing and downloading plugin and theme files more convenient allowing you to focus your mental bandwidth on more critical tasks.
This plugin should be your go-to plugin for handling plugin files, and forget the hassle of having to go through your cPanel to figure where the plugin files are.
If you’re a WordPress developer you will probably be working on multiple sites that need similar themes and plugins, this is where our plugin will come in handy, instead of downloading plugin themes and files the tedious way by logging into cPanel or FTP, which might not be available in the first place, you could simply use this plugin to download all plugin files you need in an instant and use it on any other site as you wish.
This plugin could also help you as a backup if anything goes wrong on your main site. If you run everything properly in a test environment and you mess things up on your production this plugin could help you download plugin and theme files from your test environment, without having to log into the hosting of the test site, and use the appropriate files to fix the bug or the issues on your main site. So it helps in synchronizing the workflow between the test environment and the main site so everything is aligned and in order.
These are just two examples of cases where you might need the plugin, there many other ways where this plugin might come in handy. Our users love it and we’re sure you will too.
