Plugin disappeared, how do I safely completely remove?

  • Halo Diehard

    (@halo-diehard)


    7 years ago

    Possibly with the latest update (4.8.3) one of my plugins disappeared from the plugins page. The plugin, Posts for Page, is deprecated, and firstly I was wondering if this automatically happens when a plugin is deprecated? I know some of the files still exist in my site, because when I go to Editor in the Plugin menu I see it’s files are there. But it’s hidden, so I can’t delete it from the plugins page. In my research I saw reference to deprecated or unsafe plugins being “hidden”, but it wasn’t clear if they were referring to “hidden from the plugins page on the backend of my site” or “hidden from plugins listed when I click ‘Add New’ on my plugins page”.

    Regardless of how it disappeared from my plugins page, my specific question is now that it’s hidden, how do I safely and completely remove it from my site? Can I just delete the plugins folder on my web host, and if so wouldn’t there be tables in the database as well? Is it safe to just delete those?

    I’ve never learned to be totally savvy with how plugins work, so my fear is that the plugin could have inserted code into other files in my WordPress, outside of that plugin’s folders, and that it will break my site if I remove the plugin folder and database entries related to that plugin to “clean it out”.

    Any infos appreciated, thanks!

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
  • abletec

    (@abletec)

    Hi, halo diehard, & welcome. If you’re really concerned that deleting the folder will break your site, try using your hosting provider’s file manager & append a 1 or a .old to the folder name, ie, posts for page.1 or posts for page.old. Then go back into your site. If nothing untoward occurred (& I suspect it wouldn’t, then you can go bak & delete the folder, knowing it’s safe to do so.

    It’s 1 of the little tricks I use all the time when working on a site–you know–just to be sure.

    Thread Starter Halo Diehard

    (@halo-diehard)

    Thanks for your response, @abletec. But what about the database? If I leave little bits of old plugins in there, it’s just going to add up and possibly cause issues in the future?

    abletec

    (@abletec)

    Not usually. Given the risk of screwing up the database & breaking the site vs. the risk of some unused tables causing trouble, I’d say the 2nd is less risky anytime.

    If the plugins have their own tables, you could go in & delete them using something like PhpMyAdmin or an optimizer plugin, but these things tend to be pretty insignificant in most cases.

    Thread Starter Halo Diehard

    (@halo-diehard)

    Kk, thanks for your sharing your experience!

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
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