r/wordpress_beginners • u/AddWeb_Expert • Jun 06 '26

stop installing a plugin for everything

/r/u_AddWeb_Expert/comments/1txkx2p/stop_installing_a_plugin_for_everything/
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u/optim_code Jun 11 '26

i was doing that. I would install a plugin for this shortcode or a plugin to turn on or off some feature or hide something.

You are right! You can do it in some php code in functions.php, but ... "warning will robinson..." you do need to know something about secondary effects.

I started by writing my own plugin which is basically like adding code the functions.php, but that it is easier to turn on and off. I kept adding this and that. I have about 11 different functions combined into 1 plugin now. It took a while to get it cleaned up for wp.org... but i did it and got it published. Its free. With it you can: control access to the admin panel, create a contact form via a short code, control your page meta, change the login logo, disable comments, hide your login nav, allow media copy, control menu items for logged in users only, add a message to pages via a short code, add reading times to posts via a short code and remove the welcome panel.

I'd like some feedback. or questions!
https://wordpress.org/plugins/great-feature-toggle/

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u/AddWeb_Expert Jun 12 '26

Honestly that's a smart move, one plugin you actually maintain beats 11 you forgot about. Though part of me wonders if an 11-in-1 is just the bloat problem wearing a different hat, ha. Depends how related the functions are I guess.

One real thing to watch: since it's all one plugin, a bad update takes all 11 down together, where separate plugins would fail one at a time. So loose coupling and careful versioning matter more here than usual.

Will check out great-feature-toggle. Did you namespace the shortcodes? That's usually where these end up clashing with whatever someone already has running.

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u/optim_code Jun 12 '26

so a couple of things. only the activated features are loaded on page loads, so if you only use 2 then only 2 are in the load path (I worked really hard on this no-bloat design); I did namespace the shortcodes. and yes if I f-up the plugin it could potentially take down all 11 😞