Website cleanup: Should I stay or should I go now?
Website cleanup on isle 4! Always a good idea to do some WordPress plugins housekeeping from time to time. and this is one of those times. As WordPress evolves many of the features that was previously only found via plugins are now native. So, no need for that plugin anymore. Which means they can go. Potentially fewer if any conflicts. And less that can break. We like that. Spartan. Simplicity. Let’s go for it!
Plugins that could go…
7 plugins that could go. Nice one!
- Advanced iFrame – could go. Just check if and where any iframes are still embedded. And the following plugin goes with it. Advanced iFrame custom folder. I don’t think we have any embeds on the site.
- Converter for Media – could go. Would have added this way back to upload various image file types that would have become part and parcel of the stock WordPress built-in options by now. Check and remove.
- Fluent Forms – is this part of fluent CRM and necessary? If not, and not used, (maybe for a newsletter signup) then delete.
- HD Quiz – could go. Worked perfectly. But only on a single blog post. From years ago. Which doesn’t justify its existence on the site anymore. Gone.
- WooCommerce Peach Payments Gateway – maybe ditch. Currently inactive anyway. Because it spits out ‘Peach Payments Gateway: Important legacy fields are missing after updating to version 4.0. Please review your gateway settings.’ Will mail them just in case…
- SVG Support – also something that could be reviewed. Maybe we don’t need this anymore. After all, how many SVG’s are we importing, if any. Maybe just a company logo or two.
- PDFjs Viewer – Embed PDFs – maybe. I don’t think we have too many embedded pdf’s on this site. Probably just that ons price list. Which can be converted to an image and then this deleted. Also no insurance pdf needed anymore.
Plugins that can stay…
- Advanced Form Integration – stays. This is the link from the online sales to the management spreadsheet. And AFI has amazing support. Couldn’t ask for better. Well done guys.
- Antispam Bee – stays. Saved 30k spam comments just the other day. Thanks!
- Block Emails for WooCommerce – stays. Have had to block a bot entering false WooCommerce orders before. Works like a charm.
- Classic Editor – stays. I love the word processor like editor for blogging. Yes you can do more with blocks but this is quicker.
- Classic Widgets – stays. I like the recent posts format for the Chaplin theme with these layouts.
- Easy Table of Contents – stays. Works great. Expand the auto heading at the top to get a page or post index so you can navigate quicker on long pages. Should also be beneficial for a bit of SEO.
- Export Products, Orders & Customers for WooCommerce – stays. Use this monthly to check sales stats and add it onto the bicycle couriers dashboard. So we can keep track of the growth. For when the time comes to sell.
- Flexible Checkout Fields – stays. Use this for custom fields during woocommerce checkout. Because usually the plugin sells an item shipped from a single location to a customer. But in our case for sending boxed bicycles we have to grab both the (A) sending address and the (B) delivery address from our friendly customers.
- FluentCRM – Marketing Automation For WordPress – stays. But used not very often. We are way too busy delivering bicycles and writing blog posts to do newsletters as well. We certainly don’t spam our members. Maybe 3 newsletters in a year. aim for 1 per quarter. Or maybe a monthly roundup…
- Forget About Shortcode Buttons – stays. I have too many buttons on the site to swop them all out now. New WP has buttons in by default. but this was pre that.
Ten more plugins that can stay
- Gallery Custom Links – stays. But also only used on that one post where we list all the bike shops visually. From ages ago. Isn’t this part of the new WordPress by default now? Or something similar?
- Google for WooCommerce – stays. For showing our woocommerce products on google. Asking them to play nicely. We provide valuable insights and expertise on sending boxed bicycles. And google shows us in the top of the organic listings. And AEO.
- iKhokha Payment Gateway – stays. Otherwise customers can’t do online card payments through ikhokha.
- Joinchat – stays. Tthis is the WhatsApp button that links to our company number. But maybe it should be replaced with presales chatbot agent for answering repetitive questions before the outliers are sent through to me?
- Kadence Security Basic – stays. Blocking so many fake logins and bots, it is not even funny. Scary, actually. But thanks for doing the hard work for us, kadence. Our bicycle couriers appreciate it.
- Move Comments – used from time to time. but with a quirk. I use it for moving around comments on the website. like every now and then the landing page gets too long from customer comments. Then I move it to the FAQ page. Or relevant other pages. Keeping the frontend clean.
- Ninja Forms – stays. We get many customer requests from the contact form. And from the get a quote form.
- PDF Invoices & Packing Slips for WooCommerce – stays. Create a pdf invoice at the click of a button. And from time to time we do get customers who request same. Than we can send it instantly.
- Product Open Pricing (Name Your Price) for WooCommerce – stays. For the open pricing product. So we can add a price for a WooCommerce sale. Enter it ourselves. Variable price product. And use it quite often.
- Really Simple Security – stays. It works. Extra security is never a bad thing. Just check that it doesn’t interfere with another one. And which security plugin allows the hidden login path again?
And the final ten plugins that can stay
- Redirection – stays for now. Have changed a few URLs before and this keep track of them. Or check because if those posts are older and not generating new traffic then it can go.
- Site Reviews – stays! We pride ourselves on our service. And want you to tell us about it. so we can tell the world. and we capture your reviews right here. Could add a social sharing component to this. seeing as we are not sharing anything else on social media.
- Spreadsheet Integration – Google sheet Integration, Sync & Display. – can delete. Not in use. And after the stellar support I got from AFI I doubt that I will be looking for an alternative soon.
- Ultimate FAQ Accordion Plugin – stays. For now. I love the layout. And we do have a few FAQs. Even though it has been replaced by the bicycle transport help centre. Our new knowledge base. For AEO. But I love the UFAQ layout.
- WooCommerce – stays. This is a shopping site after all. Which sets us apart from the rest. Among others.
- WP External Links – stays. We have many external links. And don’t want to t have to click and change them from opening iso the current page into a new page. External links should open in new pages by default. Which is what this does.
- WP Fastest Cache – stays. Because have you seen how fast our website is. Especially on a mobile device? Works like a charm. And makes us an absolute pleasure to use.
- WP Mail SMTP – stays. Sending mail through own STMP. Outgoing mail server.
- Yoast SEO – stays! We need to see those green lights. Even though we can cut and paste a picture-perfect SEO article straight from creating it in word and then into the WordPress website. Working every time. And which is why we rank.
- Yoco Payments – stays. Payment gateway. Can’t do yoco online card payments through WooCommerce without it. And yoco is probably our biggest card merchant. Followed by ikhokha. More than redundancy.
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DONE! Fewer plugins. More sending bicycles…
