Installing Add-ons

Add-ons are installed and updated from your own WordPress admin by the Benecaster Add-on Manager, a free companion plugin. You install the Manager once; after that, each add-on you own installs with one click on Benecaster’s Settings → Add-ons screen, and updates arrive through WordPress’s usual update screens.

Install the Add-on Manager First

Until the Manager is installed, Settings → Add-ons on a connected site opens with a box headed Install add-ons with one click:

The free Benecaster Add-on Manager installs the add-ons you own straight from this screen and keeps them updated. Download it from your Benecaster account, then upload it once under Plugins → Add New Plugin → Upload Plugin.

1. Press Download the Add-on Manager. It opens the Downloads panel of your account page in a new tab (benecaster.com/my-account/ → Shows & add-ons), where the Manager is the first row.
2. Download it, then in your WordPress admin go to Plugins → Add New Plugin → Upload Plugin, choose the zip and activate it.

The box disappears once the Manager is installed. On a multisite network, a site administrator who can’t upload plugins also sees “Your account can’t upload plugins on this site. Ask a network administrator to install it.”

How It Works

When you buy an add-on on benecaster.com, it is added to your license. The next time your site checks in with Benecaster, the add-on appears in the Ready to install section of Settings → Add-ons.

Which License an Add-on Applies To

An add-on is bought on a license and covers every show registered to it — there is nothing to enter at checkout to direct it, and nothing to choose afterwards. A show is attached to a license by connecting the site, so the license an add-on reaches is the one you connected with. See Purchasing Add-ons if you hold more than one license.

Step-by-Step

1. Buy the add-on at benecaster.com — at checkout with your plan, or from Shows & add-ons → Add add-ons on your account. Make sure your site is connected to your account. See Connecting Your Site if you haven’t done this yet.

2. Go to Settings → Add-ons in your WordPress admin. If the add-on isn’t in Ready to install yet, wait a minute and reload — your site checks in with Benecaster on a short schedule.

3. Press Install on the add-on’s card. It reads Installing… while the Manager downloads the add-on, checks that it really came from Benecaster, installs it and activates it. The page then reloads.

4. The add-on is now under Installed, showing Active on this site. It is ready to use. An add-on that was already on the site but switched off is simply switched on.

5. Choose which shows it runs on, if you have more than one. Every entitled card carries an Active on list with a switch per show, and a new add-on starts switched on everywhere your license covers. See Add-ons overview.

No Install button? The button needs the Add-on Manager to be active and a user who can install plugins. Otherwise the card shows Download →, which opens the Downloads panel of your account so you can download the add-on and upload it under Plugins → Add New Plugin → Upload Plugin yourself. A card for an add-on you own never links to its sales page.

Updating

With the Manager active and a show connected, a newer version of any Benecaster add-on on your site, active or switched off, is listed under Plugins and Dashboard → Updates like any other plugin update. Press Update Now. View details shows the version, the WordPress and PHP versions it needs, when it was last updated, and a Changelog tab. WordPress checks twice a day; Check again on Dashboard → Updates checks straight away.

Some releases carry a short note, such as Back up your site before updating. When one does, it appears on its own line under that update, both on Plugins (inside the There is a new version box) and on Dashboard → Updates.

The Add-on Manager updates itself automatically, so security fixes reach every site. Its Automatic Updates column reads Auto-updates enabled with no Disable link. A site-wide setting that turns off all automatic updates still applies. Whether your add-ons update automatically stays your choice, per plugin, in the same column.

If Your License Lapses After Installing

An installed add-on that loses its entitlement — most often because your license lapsed — is not uninstalled or deleted. Its card moves to the Installed — no license section on the Add-ons screen, and its functionality stops working until the entitlement is restored. Renewing or restoring your license moves the card back to Installed automatically, on your site’s next check-in with Benecaster.

Add-on updates stop while the license is lapsed. The Add-on Manager keeps updating itself.

If Benecaster Can’t Reach Its License Server for 30 Days

If your site has not been able to reach Benecaster’s license server for 30 days in a row, your add-ons pause along with your other paid features: each one stops as it would if its license had lapsed. An add-on you own stays under Installed, and its card reads Paused — Benecaster has not been able to reach its licence server for 30 days. It starts again on its own at the next successful licence check. in place of Active on this site., with no per-show switches or links.

Nothing is uninstalled and no settings are lost. The first time your site reaches the license server again, every add-on your license covers starts working again, set up as you left it. See License Status and Plan for what else happens during an outage.

When an Install or Update Is Refused

The reason shows on the add-on’s card, or as WordPress’s Update failed: line. The messages you may see:

A zip you upload yourself under Plugins → Add New Plugin → Upload Plugin is installed by WordPress, not the Manager, so it is not checked.

Add-on Manager Notices

The Manager shows one of two notices when it can’t do its job:

• “Benecaster isn’t active, so the Add-on Manager isn’t needed.” with Remove it (or Deactivate it). Reactivate Benecaster, or remove the Manager.
• “This site is no longer connected to Benecaster. Reconnect, or remove the Add-on Manager.” with Reconnect and Remove it. It appears when no show on the site is connected, or when Benecaster has closed the site’s connection. While it shows, nothing is updated, the Manager included. It clears as soon as a show reconnects. Where the Manager can’t be removed from that screen, it reads “…Reconnect it to keep the Add-on Manager working.” instead.

Uninstalling Benecaster

If you uninstall Benecaster with Delete all data on uninstall switched on, the data your Benecaster add-ons stored goes with it — even if the add-on plugins are still installed. Their plugin files stay in place; only the data is removed. See Settings & Tools → Delete All Data on Uninstall for what that switch removes.

Uninstalling an individual add-on (rather than Benecaster itself) removes whatever that add-on’s own uninstall removes — the add-on’s plugin files, and any data it deletes on its own. Outlinks, for example, keeps your tracked links and their click history unless Delete all data on uninstall is on, but its /go/ links stop working while it isn’t installed. See Outlinks.

If the Add-on Doesn’t Appear

A newly purchased add-on may take up to a few minutes to appear in Ready to install. If it still doesn’t show after a few minutes:

• Confirm your site is connected to your Benecaster account — go to any show’s Settings → Subscription tab and check the connection state.
• Make sure you completed the checkout on benecaster.com and received a purchase confirmation.
• Reload the Add-ons screen. If the issue persists, reach out to support with your order confirmation number.

Studio Tier

If you are on the Studio tier, every podcaster add-on is included with your plan — there is nothing to buy individually. The CRM Sync add-ons (HubSpot, Zoho and Salesforce) are the exception and are purchased separately on every plan.

The Add-ons screen works exactly the same way it does on any other plan; the difference is that all of them are already entitled. So every add-on you haven’t installed yet appears in Ready to install with an Install button, and none of them shows a Purchase → link. Install them as you need them rather than all at once.

If an add-on is missing from the list entirely, that is not a Studio-specific problem — work through the troubleshooting steps above first, since the usual cause is the site not having checked in with Benecaster yet. Contact support if it persists.