In the previous tutorial in our intoduction to wordpress plugins and widgets series, we showed you how to search for and install wordpress plugins. Like WordPress itself, sometimes plugins will need to be updated when a new version of the plugin is released.  This update can help patch security issues, or just give the plugin more features.

How do I know if a plugin needs to be updated?

First, log into your WordPress Dashboard and select the Plugins menu option. If you have a Plugin that needs to be updated, the Plugins menu option will have a number next to it.

On the Plugins page, you will see a message similar to "There is a new version of....." to let you know which plugin needs an update.  As you can see below, the Facebook Plugin I installed earlier in this section is ready for an update.

Click on the "update automatically" link, and it will lead you to a page to automatically install the update for that plugin. In the next tutorial we will show you how to search for and install widgets.