Plugins have traditionally been an integral part of computing, web browsing, and content creation for the Internet. And they’ve played a vital role in ensuring that the basic functions of even our most mundane online activities work smoothly, including viewing documents, watching movies, and more. Here’s an overview of plugins and how they work.

Plugins are software extensions that allow you to modify computer programs, apps, and web browsers, as well as the content offered by websites. Although plugins are still used as add-ons to modify programs and apps, their use in web browsers has declined somewhat, in favor of the use of browser extensions.

Plugins are also all the little add-ons that optimize the content you publish as an online creator. As a content consumer, they are the extras that let you experience the web in a myriad of ways, including images, sounds, videos, and animations. Plugins also make web pages and websites more than just big blocks of text; there are plugins to make your blog posts rank better, to display YouTube and Vimeo videos on your website, or even to change the fonts of your website.

The once widely used web browser plugins have fallen out of favor as popular browsers have stopped supporting them and replaced them with browser extensions. However, there are still a few plugins that are useful for everyday computing and surfing.