Can I install/update wordpress plugins without providing ftp access?

Question

I am using wordpress on my live server which only uses sftp using an ssh key.

I want to install and upgrade plugins, but it appears that you are required to enter your ftp login to install the plugins. Is there a way to install and upgrade plugins by manually uploading the files instead of having wordpress handle the entire process?

Answer 1

Usually you can just upload your plugin to the wp-content\plugins directory. if you dont have access to this directory via sftp I'm afraid you may be stuck.

Answer 2

WordPress 2.7 lets you upload a zip file directly (there's a link at the bottom of the plugins page) -- no FTP access needed. This is a new feature in 2.7, and it works for plugins only (not themes yet).

Answer 3

We use sftp w/ ssh (on both our dev and live servers) & have tried (not too hard though) to use the WP upload feature. I agree with Toby, upload your plugin(s) to the wp-content/plugins directory and then activate them from there.

Answer 4

Use the One Click Plugin Updater.

Answer 5

I developed a plugin but worry that my users are not going to understand how to FTP it to wordpress (its a plugin for bloggers who aren't always tech savvy). I want the user to have the option of cutting and pasting the code and adding it to wordpress's sidebar.php. Is it possible to install a plugin that way?

Answer 6

It is possible to use SFTP or SSH to auto update Plugins in WordPress, but you need to have ssh2 pecl extension. You can find out how to do it, using the following tutorial