diff --git a/R/defaults/main.yml b/R/defaults/main.yml
index 9a795501..be54b86e 100644
--- a/R/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/R/defaults/main.yml
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ r_cran_mirror_site: http://cran.mirror.garr.it/mirrors/CRAN/
 r_base_pkg_version: 2.14.1
 r_packages_state: present
 
+r_source_plugins_dest_dir: /var/cache/R
+
 r_base_packages_list:
   - r-base
   - jags
@@ -39,6 +41,9 @@ r_plugins_packages_list:
   - r-cran-spatial
   - r-cran-survival
 
+# r_plugins_from_sources:
+#   - { name: 'plyr', version: '1.7.1', source: 'plyr_1.7.1.tar.gz', url: 'http://cran.r-project.org/src/contrib/Archive/plyr/plyr_1.7.1.tar.gz' }
+
 r_plugins_list_to_install:
   - R2WinBUGS
   - R2jags
@@ -54,6 +59,7 @@ r_plugins_list_to_install:
   - grid
   - methods
   - parallel
+  - reshape
   - splines
   - stats
   - stats4
diff --git a/R/tasks/main.yml b/R/tasks/main.yml
index a0cfb881..312e6847 100644
--- a/R/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/R/tasks/main.yml
@@ -44,6 +44,27 @@
     - r_software
     - r_pkg
 
+- name: Ensure that the R plugin sources directory exists
+  file: dest={{ r_source_plugins_dest_dir }} state=directory owner=root group=root
+  when: r_plugins_from_sources is defined
+  tags: [ 'r_software', 'r_pkg', 'r_plugins' ]
+
+- name: Get the R plugin sources that need to be installed
+  get_url: url={{ item.url }} dest={{ r_source_plugins_dest_dir }}
+  with_items: r_plugins_from_sources
+  when: r_plugins_from_sources is defined
+  tags: [ 'r_software', 'r_pkg', 'r_plugins' ]
+  
+- name: Install R plugins from the cran sources
+  command: >
+    Rscript --slave --no-save --no-restore-history -e "if (! ('{{ item.name }}' %in% installed.packages()[,'Package'])) { install.packages('{{ r_source_plugins_dest_dir }}/{{ item.source }}', repos = NULL, type='source'); print('Added'); } else { print('Already Installed'); }"
+  register: install_s_plugins_result
+  failed_when: "install_s_plugins_result.rc != 0 or 'had non-zero exit status' in install_s_plugins_result.stderr"
+  changed_when: "'Added' in install_s_plugins_result.stdout"
+  with_items: r_plugins_from_sources
+  when: r_plugins_from_sources is defined
+  tags: [ 'r_software', 'r_pkg', 'r_plugins' ]
+
 - name: Install R plugins from the cran binaries repo
   command: >
     Rscript --slave --no-save --no-restore-history -e "if (! ('{{ item }}' %in% installed.packages()[,'Package'])) { install.packages(pkgs='{{ item }}', repos=c('{{ r_cran_mirror_site }}/')); print('Added'); } else { print('Already installed'); }"
@@ -51,9 +72,6 @@
   failed_when: "install_plugins_result.rc != 0 or 'had non-zero exit status' in install_plugins_result.stderr"
   changed_when: "'Added' in install_plugins_result.stdout"
   with_items: r_plugins_list_to_install
-  tags:
-    - r_software
-    - r_pkg
-
+  tags: [ 'r_software', 'r_pkg', 'r_plugins' ]