Blacklisted WordPress Plugins to avoid
Blacklisted plugins
“Your Hosting Provider has blacklisted the following plugins…”
No web designer wants to see this message when checking their managed wordpress accounts. Hosting servers such as Website Domain Service are working to protect the integrity of hosted accounts. Suspected plugins are sometimes deleted from user accounts.
In some cases the hosting service will “remove” a plugin that is suspected of being compromised, then email the administrator to let them know. “Better safe then sorry” said owner Joe Birch of In-House Graphics. “I like that my website hosting service is watching my back. Bad guys are always working to find a crack in a website.”
Plugins on the blacklist:
Note: This is not an exhaustive list of disallowed plugins. Just a list of the most used as of October 2017. It is a best practice strategy to remove these plugins even before your hosting platform does it for you. (Not all hosting platforms will perform this level of security. You should contact your hosting service to see what level of help they offer.)
| Plugin name | Category | More info |
|---|---|---|
| 6scan-backup | Backups | Abandoned/unsupported plugin |
| 6scan-protection | Duplicate functionality | Abandoned/unsupported plugin with duplicate functionality |
| adminer | Duplicate functionality | See description of category below |
| adsense-click-fraud-monitoring | Performance | See description of category below |
| broken-link-checker | Performance | Instead, use client software on your computer or an external service |
| contextual-related-posts | Related posts | See description of category below |
| clef | Security | Abandoned/unsupported plugin |
| ezpz-one-click-backup | Backups | Abandoned/unsupported plugin with duplicate functionality |
| fuzzy-seo-booster | Related posts | See description of category below |
| google-sitemap-generator | Performance | Versions < 4.0 only — Instead use Google Sitemap or WordPress SEO. |
| google-xml-sitemaps-with-multisite-support | Performance | Instead use Google Sitemap or WordPress SEO |
| InfiniteWP Client | Security issues | Versions 1.3.8 and below – vulnerability details |
| jr-referrer | Stats | See description of category below |
| MailPoet | Security issues | Versions 2.6.6 and below — vulnerability details |
| p3-profiler | Unnecessary / nonfunctional | No longer receiving updates |
| portable-phpmyadmin | Duplicate functionality | See description of category below |
| referrer-wp | Stats | See description of category below |
| seo-alrp | Related posts | See description of category below |
| sgcachepress | Unnecessary / nonfunctional | From customers migrating from SiteGround, unneeded |
| similar-posts | Related posts | See description of category below |
| statpress | Stats | See description of category below |
| synthesis | Unnecessary / nonfunctional | From customers migrating from Synthesis, unneeded |
| the-codetree-backup | Backups | Abandoned/unsupported plugin |
| toolspack | Security issues | Vulnerability details |
| updraft
Note: We do not blacklist UpdraftPlus. |
Backups | Abandoned/unsupported plugin |
| w3-total-cache | Caching | See description of category below |
| wordpress-beta-tester | Unnecessary / nonfunctional | Non-functional on GoDaddy Managed WordPress Hosting |
| wordpress-gzip-compression | Duplicate functionality | See description of category below |
| wordpress-popular-posts | Related posts | Versions 3.1.1 and below |
| wp-cache | Caching | See description of category below |
| wp-cachecom | Caching | See description of category below |
| wp-copysafe-web | Security issues | Vulnerability details |
| wp-copysafe-pdf | Security issues | Vulnerability details |
| wp-engine-snapshot | Unnecessary / nonfunctional | From customers migrating from WP Engine, unneeded |
| wp-fast-cache | Caching | See description of category below |
| wp-fastest-cache | Caching | See description of category below |
| wp-file-cache | Caching | See description of category below |
| wp-phpmyadmin | Duplicate functionality | See description of category below |
| wp-postviews | Stats | See description of category below |
| wp-power-stats | Stats | See description of category below |
| wp-slimstat | Stats | See description of category below |
| wp-super-cache | Caching | See description of category below |
| wpengine-common | Unnecessary / nonfunctional | From customers migrating from WP Engine, unneeded |
| wponlinebackup | Backups | Abandoned/unsupported plugin with duplictate functionality |
| yet-another-featured-posts-plugin | Related posts | See description of category below |
| yet-another-related-posts-plugin | Related posts | See description of category below |
