The red dot next to Wordfence

Are you referring to the dot with the number in it next to “Wordfence” in the admin menu? If so, I agree with you. It seems that after the last update Wordfence decided to make its notifications more prominent, including notifications about plugins that need updating. I wish I could turn this off. I would only want notifications of serious issues (e.g. potential malicious code) on my site, but if I constantly see the WF notification lighting up I am bound to start ignoring it.

That’s the one! I’m glad I’m not the only one.

Hi @acekin
This notification doesn’t remind the user to upgrade to the paid version, it just shows the number of notifications you have in (Wordfence > Dashboard) and when you resolve these cases or even click on the little (x) icon aligned to the right you will get rid of these notifications icon beside Wordfence menu item.

@phidippides having outdated plugins on your website could be a serious issue if one of these plugins has a vulnerability that can be exploited to execute some “potential malicious code” on your website, I suggest reading “How Attackers Gain Access to WordPress Sites” blog post.

Thanks.

Oh, i am glad I wrote this comment because I had no idea about its function. Now that you explained the real purpose, it makes eminent sense. I checked the message which was essentially a welcome to the new version and the red dot be gone! Thank you,

Cemal

There’s also a yellow dot notification for updates – however, if I’ve already marked that update as “to be ignored”, then there really shouldn’t be a notification dot for it, right?

Might want to add that to the “refinement list”! ??

@wfalaa Yes, I know that updating plugins regularly is important, which is why I use a central plugin manager to monitor and update all dozen or so WP installs that I have. Because of this, I don’t need WF to monitor plugin updates (or at least I don’t need WF to put this in a special notification).

I realize this is not a huge deal, but in principle I do not like plugins which assume importance or become more conspicuous within my admin interface over time.

All I am asking for is the ability to turn off these notifications, and to choose the ability to pick which kinds of notifications we receive.

I’d rather be notified that a plugin needs an Update, than to not know. I had a plugin on my site that Wordfence caught as requiring an update.
That plugin developer did not notify users that there was an update.

Sometimes, we don’t realize what an accurate and secure plugin Wordfence is today. Over the past 7 years – I haven’t seen one this good, and for a free version its is superior to anything in WordPress Land.
For that, I can click on the little x and remove the little red dot notification and live happy ever after.

@stratosphere That is why I am completely fine with having the option to leave it on or turn it off.

The reality is that WP ALREADY provides notifications about plugin updates. On one site of mine there are four places – that’s right, FOUR – in the same view of my administration panel which are telling me that I have an update to a plugin (Dashboard > Updates, Plugins, Wordfence, and the Admin bar notification).

This is overkill, and it’s why I’m asking for the ability to turn it off in WF.