Home › Install guide

Manual installation

One ZIP file. Three ways in.

WordPress can install a plugin from a ZIP in about ninety seconds — unless your host says the file is too big, and then you need a back door. Both routes are below. Pick the one that matches the access you have.

2–8 minutes No coding Fixes for common errors
Keep it zipped
compress-your-website.zip 1.4 MB · WordPress plugin package
compress-your-website.zip
└── allsaveit/
    ├── allsaveit.php ← plugin header lives here
    ├── includes/
    ├── assets/
    └── readme.txt
Everything ends up in /wp-content/plugins/allsaveit/

Step zero

Pick your route.

All three end in exactly the same place: a folder called allsaveit sitting inside wp-content/plugins. They just take different doors to get there.

Front door · dashboard upload0 of 6 done

That's it — the plugin is live on your site.

1

Download the ZIP — and leave it zipped

Save compress-your-website.zip somewhere you'll find it again. Do not unzip it. WordPress wants the sealed package, not the contents.

Safari users: Safari unzips downloads automatically. Turn off Settings → General → Open "safe" files after downloading, or re-zip the folder before you upload.
2

Log in as an administrator

Go to yoursite.com/wp-admin. Editor and author accounts can't install plugins — you need the administrator role.

3

Plugins → Add New Plugin → Upload Plugin

The Upload Plugin button hides at the very top of the Add Plugins screen, next to the heading. It's easy to walk straight past it and start searching the directory instead.

4

Choose the file, then Install Now

Pick compress-your-website.zip and press Install Now. WordPress uploads it, unpacks it into the plugins folder, and reports back in a few seconds.

5

Activate the plugin

On the success screen, click Activate Plugin. Until you do, the files are on the server but nothing is running.

6

Connect your free account

Open the AllSaveIt menu, paste your API key, and run your first optimization. That links the site to your 25 GB of cloud storage.

Service entrance · FTP / SFTP0 of 6 done

That's it — the plugin is live on your site.

1

Unzip the file on your computer

This is the one route where you do unzip. You should end up with a single folder named allsaveit with a PHP file inside it.

If unzipping gives you allsaveit/allsaveit/ — a folder inside a folder — upload the inner one. A double wrap is the most common reason a plugin never shows up.
2

Get your FTP details

Host, username, password and port live in your hosting control panel, usually under FTP Accounts. Prefer SFTP on port 22 when your host offers it — plain FTP sends your password unencrypted.

3

Connect with FileZilla or Cyberduck

Both are free. Enter the details, connect, and you'll see your server's files on the right-hand side.

# or from a terminal, if you prefer
sftp user@yoursite.com
sftp> cd public_html/wp-content/plugins
4

Navigate to the plugins folder

The path is public_html/wp-content/plugins/. On some hosts the root is www, htdocs or httpdocs instead — look for the folder containing wp-config.php.

5

Drag the folder across

Upload the whole allsaveit folder. Wait for the transfer queue to empty completely — a half-uploaded plugin will throw fatal errors on activation.

6

Activate from the dashboard

Back in wp-admin → Plugins, AllSaveIt now appears in the list. Click Activate, then paste your API key.

Side gate · cPanel File Manager0 of 6 done

That's it — the plugin is live on your site.

1

Open File Manager in your hosting panel

cPanel, Plesk, hPanel and DirectAdmin all have one. It's a file browser that runs in your browser, so there's nothing to install.

2

Go to wp-content/plugins

From the root, open public_htmlwp-contentplugins. You'll see a folder for every plugin already on the site.

3

Upload the ZIP as-is

Hit Upload and send compress-your-website.zip straight into the plugins folder. This route skips PHP's upload limit entirely, which is exactly why it works when the dashboard won't.

4

Extract it there

Right-click the uploaded ZIP and choose Extract. A folder named allsaveit appears next to it.

5

Delete the leftover ZIP

Tidy, and it stops the archive being served publicly. Confirm the folder contains allsaveit.php directly — not another folder wrapping it.

6

Activate and connect

Go to wp-admin → Plugins, activate AllSaveIt, paste your API key and run the first bulk optimization.

Shortcut

If you live in a terminal

WP-CLI installs and activates in a single line. Run it from your WordPress root.

# from a local file
wp plugin install ./compress-your-website.zip --activate

# or straight from a URL
wp plugin install http://allsaveit.com/compress-your-website.zip --activate

# confirm it took
wp plugin list --status=active

When it goes wrong

The five errors that stop almost everyone

"The uploaded file exceeds the upload_max_filesize directive"

Your host caps how large a file PHP will accept, and the plugin is over it. Raise the limit in php.ini or your host's PHP settings panel, or skip the limit entirely by using the FTP or File Manager route above. The second option is faster and needs no permissions.

"The package could not be installed. No valid plugins were found."

WordPress opened the ZIP and couldn't find a PHP file with a plugin header. Nearly always this is the double-folder problem: the archive contains a folder, which contains another folder, which contains the code. Unzip it, take the innermost folder that holds the main PHP file, re-zip that, and upload again.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" on the upload screen

The upload took longer than the security token stayed valid, so WordPress rejected it. Go back, reload the page and try again on a stable connection — or use FTP, which has no such timeout.

The plugin installs but never appears in the list

Check the folder actually landed in wp-content/plugins and not one level above it in wp-content. Also confirm the main PHP file sits directly inside the plugin folder. WordPress only scans one level deep.

White screen or fatal error after activating

Usually an incomplete upload or a PHP version below the plugin's minimum. Rename the plugin folder over FTP — adding -off to the end is enough — and WordPress will deactivate it automatically so you can get back into the dashboard. Then re-upload the files and check your PHP version.

Last step

Your activation key

Once the plugin is active, open AllSaveIt → Settings, paste this key and save. That connects the site to your 25 GB of cloud storage.

Activation key

One key works across every site on your account.

Got the ZIP? You're ninety seconds away.

Free plugin, 25 GB of cloud storage, unlimited websites. If anything sticks, email us and a human will answer.