Step-by-Step Guide to Installing 3rd Party Plugins in Divi 5 Public Alpha

1. Access Your Divi Dashboard
   First, head over to your Divi Dashboard. Make sure you’re working in a safe environment, ideally on a local install or staging site—never on a production site. You’ll be modifying core theme files, which can be risky.
2. Locate and Edit functions.php
   In your Divi Dashboard, navigate to Appearance > Theme File Editor. You could use a file editor if you prefer, but for this tutorial, we’ll stick to editing from within WordPress. Select the functions.php file for the Divi theme (note that this is not the child theme’s functions.php file—you want to edit the core theme file). You may see a pop-up asking if you’re sure about editing the file. Go ahead and confirm, but remember, proceed with caution.
3. Find and Comment Out the Restriction Lines
   
   Once the functions.php file loads, scroll down to line 9387. Here, you’ll see a line of code adding an action that prevents activation of third-party plugins. Simply add // at the beginning of this line to comment it out.
   Next, scroll down to line 9415 and do the same—add // to comment it out. This will effectively disable the block that stops plugin activation.
   NOTE: Depending on your Divi 5 Alpha version, the lines could be 9410 and 9439.
4. Update the File
   After commenting out both lines, click Update File to save your changes.
5. Activate Your Plugin
   Now that you’ve modified the functions.php file, head over to Plugins > Installed Plugins. If you’ve already installed your third-party plugin (like BodyCommerce), simply click Activate. You should see the plugin activate without any issues, allowing you to access all its settings and features. Just to reiterate—do not do this on a live site. This is strictly for testing and experimenting with Divi 5 Public Alpha.

Important Warnings

• No Support Available: Remember, we can’t provide support for issues that arise from using our plugins with Divi 5 in its alpha state. We’re still working on making everything compatible.
• Do Not Use on Production Sites: This workaround involves modifying core files, which is risky and can lead to site instability. Only use this for experimentation purposes.

Conclusion

That’s all there is to it! With just a few tweaks to the functions.php file, you can install and activate third-party plugins, including Divi Engine plugins like BodyCommerce, in the Divi 5 Public Alpha. We hope you found this tutorial helpful. Go ahead and experiment, but remember—you won’t receive support during this alpha phase.

If you found this guide helpful, feel free to like, comment, and subscribe for more tips and tricks as we all get ready for the official release of Divi 5. Have fun testing, and see you next time!