Plugin was installed by tricking my clients and update took the site down

  • Please stop tricking users to install “recommended” plugins during the setup wizard without actively let them choose them. You are using opt-out instead of opt-in which is required by the plugin guidelines.

    This plugin ended up on 2 websites of my clients together with WP Forms Lite and OptinMonster. Neither of them was being used, but users who don’t know better, think they are needed to run other plugins.

    Now an update was released, that was not tested and even though the plugin was not used, the sites were broken and needed to be fixed. I’ve ended with removing the 3 unwanted plugins on both sites.

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)
  • Plugin Support Michelle D.

    (@devmich)

    Hi @josklever,

    Thanks for sharing your feedback. I apologize for the frustration here.

    It’s not our intent to cause confusion with the recommended plugins. We try to provide as much value as possible to our users by suggesting plugins that we integrate with directly for more features, because a lot of users aren’t aware of them and can benefit greatly.

    When getting started with UserFeedback, while in step 3 of 5 of the setup wizard (in the?Which UserFeedback features would you like to enable??page), you’ll be able to see text indicating?Installs [plugin name] if those options are selected. If you would prefer to not use any suggested plugins, you’ll be able to deselect them for installation in the Setup Wizard. Here’s an example gif of how to deselect them: https://a.supportally.com/i/JylIWC

    Or if you decide after completing the setup wizard to not use the suggested plugins, you’ll be able to remove them like other WordPress plugins.

    That being said, to reiterate similar sentiments in the thread about this, we’re truly sorry for the issues caused by our release. We’ve made changes to ensure this doesn’t happen moving forward.

    We really appreciate you for giving us a try and if you have any further feedback, please feel welcome to let me know.

    Thank you.

    Thread Starter Jos Klever

    (@josklever)

    Hi Michelle,

    I know very well how to remove checkmarks or plugins after they were installed, but that’s an opt-out method. The plugin guidelines require users to opt-in to install extra plugins, as I already explained. So please read my feedback before you give a reply.

    And it should be very clear from my review, that I didn’t “try” your plugin, because we never wanted it! It was installed without consent (opt-out is not consent!) and broke the sites of my clients.

    The only party who benefits from these installs is the plugin author and not the user! If they do want the extra functions they can check the boxes themselves, during the setup. If you would like to know how, just play the GIF backwards.

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)
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