Boost Your Site's Performance: Understanding Plugin Restrictions at Wealthy Affiliate

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At Wealthy Affiliate, our Managed WordPress Hosting platform ensures that your website runs smoothly, quickly, and securely. While we understand the importance of plugins for WordPress sites, we have taken the initiative to block certain plugins to maintain the optimal performance and security of our hosting environment.

Below are general reasons why we have blocked certain plugins on our platform. Note that these reasons align with our commitment to providing the best hosting experience possible, and are consistent with all Managed Wordpress Hosts in the industry.

  1. Performance Impact: Certain backup plugins, such as UpdraftPlus, Duplicator, All-in-One WP Migration, Jetpack, BackWPup, Backup, Backup Backup, BackupWordPress, WP Migration Duplicator, and WPvivid BackupRestore, are known to require significant resources to operate, potentially slowing down your website and our servers. Our hosting solution already includes robust backup services, eliminating the need for these plugins.
    
  2. Security Risks: Some plugins can introduce security vulnerabilities to your website. Plugins like WP File Manager, File Manager Advanced, WPide, Folders, Filester, FileBird, and UBH fall under the file manager category and have, in the past, shown vulnerabilities that hackers could exploit. In the interest of ensuring the security of your website, these plugins are blocked on our platform.
    
  3. Excessive Server Load: Plugins that scrape data, such as WP Automatic, or that make a multitude of remote requests like Add-to-Any, can heavily load the server, impacting its performance. To prevent this, we've chosen to block these plugins to maintain the consistent high-speed performance of our hosting.
    
  4. Potential for Malicious Code Execution: EvalPHP allows the execution of PHP code, which can pose a security risk if your site is compromised. To maintain a safe environment, we've restricted the use of such plugins on our platform.
    
  5. Redundant Functionality: We have integrated advanced caching systems within our hosting setup. Hence, caching plugins like WP Rocket, W3 Total Cache, and WP Super Cache are blocked to avoid duplicating functionality and to ensure a streamlined user experience.
    
  6. Incompatibility and Outdated Software: Some plugins may not be compatible with our hosting configuration or the latest version of WordPress, which can lead to performance issues or even crashes. Therefore, to protect the stability of your site, we monitor and block plugins that fall into this category.

At Wealthy Affiliate, we take proactive measures to ensure that your hosting experience is secure, fast, and efficient. While this means restricting certain plugins, we believe it's worth it to maintain the highest standards of service for our users.

Your website's security and performance are our top priority, and will continue to be. I hope this offers everyone clarity, and this will be updated as we block/unblock particular plugins in the future, so I recommend that you bookmark this for reference.

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Recent Comments

144

Thank you Kyle. I only had one of these on two of my websites. I'll delete them. I love that you guys cover absolutely everything when it comes to our WordPress websites. Having worked on my websites for 8 years now, I can't tell you how much comfort it gives me knowing I can count on my sites functioning properly. Thanks again. Debra

Thanks for the heads up, Kyle. I wondered about some of this. It makes sense. Plus, I have been having some rather strange issues lately when trying to install a plug-in (story for another day). When I visit my theme's (Divi) support page (since 2018) I pass by the following message:

PHP: max_execution_time
30 - We recommend 120 for the best experience. Learn More.

Do you think there is anyway to resolve the Divi score? I did buy "WP Rocket", though I did not install it. Apparently Divi and WP Rocket are going through some major changes. I would sure not want to lose Divi. It's the only platform I know how to use.

In case you didn't know, there are some optimization settings in Divi (General then "Performance" Don't know if it conflicts with WA's optimization, but it can conflict with WP Rocket. I have it too, and there's instructions so it doesn't conflict with WP Rocket. BTW, does anyone know if WP Rocket conflicts with WA's managed hosting? I mostly leave the Divi's performance off, since WP Rocket handles that, and so far haven't gotten any issues, if that helps any.

Thanks for looking after us

Of course!

Products that people are buying revealed… that I can promote.

Thank you for this summary Kyle, where you address worries that have been voiced by several members in terms of blocking plugins on WA-hosted websites. Highly appreciated. I know that you want to provide a great product for us.

This is my 5 cents today, constructive feedback that I hope you will consider.

I have a recommendation that I strongly urge you to consider. Create a page, maybe under the Websites menu option in the WA dashboard, that will inform the members about changes/policies and more related to the hosting of websites on the WA platform.

Bookmarking your blog about this is fine, but this type of information should be centralized on a page like proposed above. It would make it easier for members to know/find information about why some plugins are blocked etc.

Some of these could be:

- changes to the hosting features provided by WA
- Timeline/deadline of preparing for changes to the plugin policy enforced on WA-hosted websites for members to take proper action
- Status of technical issues on the platform

Further, make sure to inform members via internal WA mail and contact email when such changes are planned and implemented, so our members don´t suddenly discover that the plugins we have paid for and rely on don´t work anymore, and there is no info beforehand about this.

WA hosting is good, but prompt information about changes to the hosting to members, before they are enabled/rolled out is non-negotiable in my eyes

I would have loved to still have my websites hosted with you, but I decided to migrate away from WA hosting basically due to the need for access to cPanel.

Just a minor remark about the statement;

"...and are consistent with all Managed WordPress Hosts in the industry"

I have my websites hosted by two different providers currently. They are renowned and very good at what they do and have been in the hosting business for a long time. They do not have the restriction about plugins that WA has imposed, they recommend or do not recommend plugins, and leave the choice to the members.


Roy

Hi Roy,

I agree so much with most of what you mention, especially about a specific area we can go keep updated with the current allowances here.

I suspect some of what creates differences between WA and other hosting providers is WA is so much more than that, and I also would hazard it likely that WA has way more newbs with zero experience than the average hosting company.

Because of this there is more of an opportunity for foul play as well as newb messing things up, coupled with the normal oversight of the hosting part of the service.

I suspect that the many restrictions imposed is a tool they are using to help them streamline as best they can the allowances they need to make for the many of us inexperienced in website management, from the exploits we would inadvertently invite through our ignorance, to speed draining actions for the servers themselves.

I can appreciate however for those of you with experience and know how that these limitations made in part due to the ignorance of those like myself can be frustrating. I've read many complaints, the most recent over some rocket plugin.

I note however with the rocket plugin, it has been the response from WA that if a member requests an exception it is likely granted, which leads me to some of this is to protect the whole from those like myself, hah hah.

Great comment and recommendations on streamlining the communication stream here.

Regards,

Jason

totally agree with this, thank you!
Lizzy

I think you have a very good analysis of why this is so on the WA platform, Jason.

Roy

My pleasure Lizzy. It would be very helpful to have such info rolled out on the platform in one "location".

Roy

Thank you Roy. I hope you have a fantastic Sunday.

Regards,

Jason

Thanks for your feedback Roy, all Managed Wordpress hosting companies those dealing with Wordpress sites solely, are even more restrictive then we are, because they understand the nature of Wordpress and the drawbacks and issues with certain plugins.

So we are not a generic, anything goes host. We understand Wordpress moreso than these hosts, thus we have rules that are in place to prevent people's websites from going down, to prevent them from being hacked with security vulnerabilities, and to improve speed and uptime.

There are generic hosts, and low budget hosts that are an option for sure out there and if that is what people are after, they can head that direction. We are going to continue to specialize and continue to polish our platform for those hosting Wordpress websites, aiming to be the absolute best in our industry at that.

We evolve fast, and we are doing some really sophisticated and exciting things on the hosting side behind the scenes.

Hi, Kyle. Thank you for the response and for further explaining WA policy regarding hosting and WP plugins. All of it is appreciated.

But I feel that we may be talking past each other, considering that I am not a native English speaker.

My intention with my comment was to propose an added feature or place, easily accessible to show important information about features and changes directly impacting the hosting and performance of our WP websites, like which plugins are disallowed.

And further proposing to ensure that customers having their websites hosted with WA are informed beforehand that changes are implemented to the hosting services provided.

This would give a nice lift to the user experience of the WA platform.

To bookmark a blog thread in this respect might not be the best option.

In relation to hosting providers, a «strict enough» policy to protect and ensure the highest quality service with the best possible security/safety in the forefront should be the highest priority of every serious hosting provider, such as WA.

This is also the case with the two hosting providers I use, which are nowhere near generic or «low-budget», even if they allow for plugins that WA do not allow.

So my comment in that context was meant to exemplify the need for everyone to choose a hosting service that fits their website needs and in no way as a critique of WA.

To make it perfectly clear (as I wrote in my initial comment), WA hosting is good!

Looking forward to seeing where WA is going in the near and long-term future, especially today when AI is everywhere we turn our heads.

Roy

So what does that mean for our sites if we already have some of these plugins and have used them to optimize speed? I had to do this, as I could not get good speed results without hiring someone to do a lot of optimization.

When will the functionality of the plugins be blocked, because I cannot see any warnings about this inside WP?

That is fine, if you are already using them not a big deal. And if you want to use them on other sites, you can request an exception.

So not to worry at all in your case Mikael.

Thanks. Good to know

No problem!

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