Doesn’t Support High Performance Hosting
Very disappointing that this plugin does not support stand-alone nginx. Installed, and when I activated it I got this:
“Plugin deactivated. Your server is running standalone Nginx but WP-SpamShield requires either an Apache or Apache/Nginx hybrid setup. Your site does not meet the plugin’s minimum requirements.”
Hi @50m,
I’m sorry to hear that you had a negative experience with the plugin. However I do wish you would have submitted a support request first, instead of jumping right to a negative review. Plugin developers put in a lot of work to provide free software and to help people out, so going straight to negative reviews isn’t a real nice thing to do in our opinion. We offer outstanding support, and are always happy to answer questions and help clarify things.
I think you may be working with some misunderstandings. I’ll try to clarify.
- The plugin’s minimum requirements discuss why standalone Nginx is not compatible. It’s the WordPress user’s responsibility to check these before installing. This is discussed in more depth on the Known Conflicts and Plugin Issues page of the plugin documentation.
- Nginx is not a completely interchangeable substitute for Apache. There are significant differences between the two. Unfortunately there is a lot of confusion about this.
- It’s not a matter of us “not supporting Nginx” — it’s a matter of Nginx not having features required by the plugin. Apache has features that are not available on Nginx.
- If a user’s system is not compatible, that is not an issue with the plugin, and the developer should not be blamed for that.
Similarly, if you try to use Mac software on a PC, it’s not the developer’s fault if it does not work. Software users have to read the requirements and instructions before trying to implement it.
- We definitely support high-performance hosting. Standalone Nginx is not the only way to have a blazing-fast site, and it is not the best choice for many users. In our experience, Nginx implemented as a reverse proxy in front of Apache gives the best of both worlds — blazing speed, while getting the benefit of Apache’s additional functionality. Nginx is not faster in processing PHP, only in serving static files. Using it as a reverse-proxy (aka cache) allows you to tap into this speed benefit.
Hopefully this will clear up any confusion or misunderstandings. Feel feel to use the plugin’s support URL for any further questions.
— Steven
