Error uploading plugin zip file

Question

I have a question here and hope you guys can help me with that. Couldn't find the exact answer from search and I am not a coder myself. I was given the instruction (to change plugin name) by my previous coder before he handed the plugin to me. He said if I want to change the plugin name, all I need to to is go to popups.php and change the first line, which is Plugin Name: xxx.

So I extracted the folder, change the name and and zipped the whole folder again. When I tried to install it through wordpress, it says installation failed. Did I miss out any step here?

Here is the error message:

Unpacking the package…

Installing the plugin…

The package could not be installed. No valid plugins were found.

Plugin install failed.

Answer 1

The top of your Plugin's main PHP file must contain a standard Plugin information header. This header lets WordPress recognize that your Plugin exists, add it to the Plugin management screen so it can be activated, load it, and run its functions; without the header, your Plugin will never be activated and will never run. Here is the header format:

<?php
/**
 * Plugin Name: Name Of The Plugin
 * Plugin URI: http://URI_Of_Page_Describing_Plugin_and_Updates
 * Description: A brief description of the Plugin.
 * Version: The Plugin's Version Number, e.g.: 1.0
 * Author: Name Of The Plugin Author
 * Author URI: http://URI_Of_The_Plugin_Author

Also note the name of plugin i.e.(plugin_name.php) and Plugin name in header should match and be unique.

Answer 2

This error comes when the plugin header is corrupt. Plugin Name: xxx should not be the first line on the file, instead the first few lines should look like this:

<?php
/*
Plugin Name: xxx

... more text here ...

*/

... plugin code here ...

Answer 3

If you downloaded it from CodeCanyon or similar, unzip the download package first, then upload the real plugin zip. Often there are licensing and documentation and source files included that are not part of the installable.

Answer 4

plugin header information file must be at the plugin root with valid header information like:

<?php
/**
 * Plugin Name: Name Of The Plugin
 * Plugin URI: http://URI_Of_Page_Describing_Plugin_and_Updates
 * Description: A brief description of the Plugin.
 * Version: The Plugin's Version Number, e.g.: 1.0
 * Author: Name Of The Plugin Author
 * Author URI: http://URI_Of_The_Plugin_Author

for best practice Folder Structure

Answer 5

STEP 1:

COPY FOLDER TO YOUR WP PLUGINS DIRECTORY. AND SEE IF YOU CAN ACTIVATE.IF YES, 

STEP 2 :

RE-ZIP WITH FEW FACTS IN MIND, TRY TO ZIP MAIN FOLDER.WHERE MAIN FOLDER IS A FOLDER WHICH HAS GOT MAIN FILE AND OTHER STUFFS IN IT.

STEP 3: if plugin failed to activate in first step

RENAME FOLDER TO SINGLE WORD. LIKE rat_catcher instead rat catcher.
UNZIP OLD FOLDER AND CHECKOUT YOUR FILE STRUCTURE. U MIGHT HAVE MISPLACED MAIN FILE