Stop Auto-Installing WPForms

Hi there @brandonfire,

Thanks for reaching out! You mentioned:

I’m also not running the plugin setup process to install WPForms.

Did you mean this option in the setup wizard:

https://a.supportally.com/i/MhBsvb

The reason I ask is because if that option is checked when running the WP Mail SMTP setup wizard, WPForms will be installed. However, if it’s not, our plugin will not install WPForms. Additionally, if you’re using another forms plugin, we won’t show that option at all. This is also the only way our plugin will install WPForms.

If that option is not checked but you are still ending up with WPForms installed, there may be another plugin installing it. Typically this happens through setup wizards, but commercial themes sometimes install plugins automatically as well.

I hope that helps! Have a great day!

With all due respect, I do not think that screenshot illustrates a sufficient notice/warning to users that a plugin will be installed.

Most users want to get to the core functionality of your plugin (WP Mail SMTP) quickly, and will skip through the setup steps to make that process quick/easy.

Of course, everyone should read what they’re doing on their site when setting up a plugin, but given the fact that you’ve received quite a few negative reviews and support tickets about this issue, it’s pretty clear that some kind of change should be made. Would you agree?

I would say the problem has a lot to do with the fact that people are being misled by the black title that is written really nicely and says “Smart Contact Form” – so they ignore the lighter gray subtitle/description below it that explains more about what that means.

I could suggest a few things to prevent further negative reviews and support tickets:

• Unchecking that box for Smart Contact Form by default. It’s not part of the core functionality of your plugin and therefore should not be checked by default in my opinion. Other highlighting or promotion would be fine.
• Change the black title to say “Install WPForms Plugin” or something similar – to make it obscenely clear what is going on.

I hope you’d be willing to consider one or both of these changes, as it’s quite frustrating for me to have had to deactivate/delete the WPForms plugin on the 70+ sites I manage when I’m just trying to quickly set up WP Mail SMTP and don’t want anything else. I also would love to avoid having to uncheck that box 70 times ??

I’m glad to know the source of the problem now – I’ll be sure to uncheck that box moving forward when setting up a new site, but I don’t feel this issue is resolved until a change is made with improving the clarity of what’s happening during the setup process in terms of installing other plugins.

I also have plugins on the wp repo – and we optionally give the user the chance to install any required/suggested plugins in the UI. In fact, we require users to manually click a button to install any other plugins, even though other plugins are required for some of our plugins to be used.

Since WP Mail SMTP is not a required plugin, I would request that the clarity is improved so users do not unwittingly installing more plugins than they need to have, potentially slowing down their site, wasting time, etc.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Hi there @brandonfire,

Thanks for the in-depth feedback and the suggestions. I’ve passed it along to our team for consideration. It’s always helpful to get insights from our users.

Have a great day!

Additional plugins should be opt in by default not opt out.

Hi @franknicklin,

Thanks for the feedback. I’ve passed it along to our team to consider.

Have a great day!