{"id":3787,"date":"2013-12-17T16:44:17","date_gmt":"2013-12-17T16:44:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/plug-in\/"},"modified":"2019-05-28T17:14:37","modified_gmt":"2019-05-28T17:14:37","slug":"plug-in","status":"publish","type":"definition","link":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/4324\/plug-in","title":{"rendered":"Plug-In"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><span id=\"what_does_plug-in_mean\">What Does Plug-In Mean?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>A plug-in is an element of a software program that can be added to provide support for specific features or functionality.<\/p>\n<p>Plug-ins are commonly used in Internet browsers but also can be utilized in numerous other types of applications.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"techopedia_explains_plug-in\">Techopedia Explains Plug-In<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>In general, plug-ins are part of an array of software components known as add-ons. Programs may be changed by different kinds of add-ons in different ways.<\/p>\n<p>In popular technologies, like Internet browsers and audio\/video applications, the ability to utilize plug-ins makes products more versatile and allows transparent and convenient customization according to the user&#039;s desired features. Plug-ins also can enable easier software upgrades or patches or additions by project collaborators. Plug-ins also can be a strategy for dealing with complex software licensing.<\/p>\n<p>One plug-in example is the range of customizable options common with browsers like Mozilla Firefox. Users can download individual plug-ins for this free Web browser tool to promote different results on devices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What Does Plug-In Mean? A plug-in is an element of a software program that can be added to provide support for specific features or functionality. Plug-ins are commonly used in Internet browsers but also can be utilized in numerous other types of applications. Techopedia Explains Plug-In In general, plug-ins are part of an array of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7813,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"definitioncat":[217,230,216],"class_list":["post-3787","definition","type-definition","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","definitioncat-hardware","definitioncat-privacy-and-compliance","definitioncat-software-development"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.2 (Yoast SEO v24.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What is a Plug-In? - Definition from Techopedia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This definition explains the meaning of Plug-In and why it matters.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Plug-In\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This definition explains the meaning of Plug-In and why it matters.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/4324\/plug-in\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Techopedia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/techopedia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-05-28T17:14:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@techopedia\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/4324\/plug-in#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/4324\/plug-in\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Margaret Rouse\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f5dd538e31ee352d105b8af36c4268a5\"},\"headline\":\"Plug-In\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-12-17T16:44:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-05-28T17:14:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/4324\/plug-in\"},\"wordCount\":163,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#organization\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/4324\/plug-in#respond\"]}],\"articleSection\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/4324\/plug-in\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/4324\/plug-in\",\"name\":\"What is a Plug-In? 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