Plugin Groups on the Plugins List Page Solution

Hi Noahj, I’ve noticed that you’ve suggested the Plugin Groups plugin to multiple people in this forum, and I’m curious as to how you think it can help. Since Plugin Organizer already has the option to group plugins, and so so so so so much more, I can’t see Plugin Groups being useful to anyone already using Plugin Organizer. But, perhaps I’m missing something. Would you mind explaining your line of thought? Thanks!

Hi Julie,

The plugin groups made from Plugin Organizer used to be on the native WordPress plugins page.

That changed in recent versions to improve the capabilities of Plugin Organizer. Some users were using Plugin Organizer just for the plugin organization feature on the plugins page or that was a main feature they wanted and that got discontinued there for good reason. Though, I believe the groups from Plugin Organizer can still be visited from the Plugins Group page, but not natively yet from the Plugins List Page like in the Plugin Groups plugin.

The plugin, Plugin Groups, will allow you to to JUST ORGANIZE your plugins, nothing else.

I needed it when Plugin Organizer changed/relocated this feature and Plugin Groups makes this process a lot simpler than Plugin Organizer. This is fine for me because I think it would be better if Plugin Organizer could just focus on the turning on and off of plugin for better control and website performance. I also think the name Plugin Organizer would be better with a name change because it’s focus is not to really “Organize” pulsing but “Control” where and when plugins load and don’t load. “Plugin Control” I think would be a more suitable name as it is now.

I needed this because my plugins are grouped into 3 main categories that I can’t do without.

A – ON Sometimes (plugins that may be turned on or off depending on the page content)
B – ON Always (plugins that always need to be on like a caching or SEO plugin)
C – OFF Always (plugins that never need to be on for the website frontend)
——– C are plugins that just enhance the backend of WordPress.

Then I just have a few white label custom plugins under D.

See screenshot – https://take.ms/QGION
——–

I never need the grouping of Plugin Organizer’s plugins because I never turn on or off plugins by group because all my plugins are renamed in a friendly understandable context.

Does that help?

Hi Noahj, thanks for your explanation. A few comments/questions for you, if you don’t mind…

The plugin groups made from Plugin Organizer used to be on the native WordPress plugins page.

That changed in recent versions to improve the capabilities of Plugin Organizer. […] Though, I believe the groups from Plugin Organizer can still be visited from the Plugins Group page, but not natively yet from the Plugins List Page like in the Plugin Groups plugin.

When I visit my Plugins List page, Plugin Organizer lists the group name beside each plugin and provides a “Views” link to each group at the top of the page, which allows the list to be filtered only to display the plugins from that group. The only things that have changed are the ability to add/change/remove a plugin to/from a group directly from the Plugins List page, and the ability to change the plugins load order directly from the same page.

So, it seems to me that Plugin Organizer still does what you describe, just with the settings for the groups on a different screen…

I can see how someone who just wants to group plugins and nothing else could find either plugin useful…

However, I can’t see how using both plugins together can be all that useful. If Plugin Organizer is being used to change how plugins load, groups can be very important since an entire group can be enabled or disabled in the Global settings, Post Type settings, or on individual post/page override settings. I would assume that these need to be Plugin Organizer groups specifically. So, if someone is using both plugins, then they would be making groups with both plugins…

But perhaps my assumption is incorrect. You say this works for you, and that you’re not using plugin groups to control plugin load. How does that work then? I can see from your screenshot that you’ve actually renamed your plugins to group them. What I don’t understand is how you’re turning entire groups on or off (enabling/disabling) with Plugin Organizer, if the groups aren’t created with Plugin Organizer… Could you please explain that a little more for me?

I think it would be better if Plugin Organizer could just focus on the turning on and off of plugin for better control and website performance.

I think we can agree that the PO groups do contribute to organizing how plugins load — you just don’t use them that way. But, I do use groups that way. Were the feature removed from PO, I’d have to go through all my settings and posts/pages that Override the settings, to apply my load modifications to individual plugins instead of the groups I currently use. So, I don’t think removing the groups feature would help focus the plugin more — rather, I think it would be detrimental to how the plugin currently functions, and would actually reduce the plugin’s ability to control plugin load.

I also think the name Plugin Organizer would be better with a name change because it’s focus is not to really “Organize” pulsing but “Control” where and when plugins load and don’t load. “Plugin Control” I think would be a more suitable name as it is now.

Lol. Well, perhaps that’s true, but even then, I’m not sure it’s descriptive enough of what PO does — perhaps “Plugin Performance Control” or something ??

Thanks again for answering my questions/comments. I know this is a point of interest rather than a question of support, so I appreciate you taking the time to satisfy my curiosity ?? Cheers!