sucks

If the session files aren’t removed, that’s because your server isn’t configured correctly. Garbage collection is usually set by default to run in the php.ini. It can also be run by cron job if it’s not running automatically.

That is not an error in the plugin. That’s the responsibility of the site owner to make sure their site is configured correctly. Good web hosts do this by default.

Your company offers web hosting and management services…I’m quite surprised you’re not familiar with this.

This should be a support request, not a review.

I really am sorry to hear that you had an issue.

However, I have to ask, why would you post a negative review without even submitting a support request first?

We really do offer outstanding support. You should give us a chance to help you.

It is important for all plugin users to read the documentation. We ask users to take a few minutes to work through the Troubleshooting Guide and FAQs completely, as these solve over 90% of issues users have. If you need further help, then we are happy to provide support.

Please ask yourself this…When developers spend so much time developing free plugins for the WordPress community, is it really ok to post a 1-star review without making any reasonable effort to receive support? That’s simply not the right way to handle things.

If you have an issue with something, submit a support request first, and give the author time to respond. We provide free support for our plugins…all you have to do is submit a support request at the WP-SpamShield Support Page. We provide some of the best support out there.

You might want to take a moment to check out these two posts:

• There’s a wrong way to give plugin feedback on www.ads-software.com
• How to Leave a Good Bad Review

I would ask that you reconsider your rating, as it simply isn’t accurate or fair. It can be updated by going to: https://www.ads-software.com/support/view/plugin-reviews/wp-spamshield#postform

Reviews like this simply do not help the global WordPress community.

– Scott

• This reply was modified 8 years, 5 months ago by redsand.

Thanks for your response. And thanks for the hard work building this free plugin.

However..
Please don’t patronize. We have been in this business for over 20 years.
Customers buy a VPS, install Plesk and start using it e.g. with WordPress.
They don’t know about garbage collection, etc. That is how it is nowadays.

We do not give such a review lightly. Only review after an exhaustive time of use and testing.
Your plugin is the ONLY one causing this kind of problems.

Go scratch the back of your head and fix it somehow.
For the time being, it is on our blacklist.

I am not saying it is bad at all. It just has this problem that can cause a HUGE problem.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 5 months ago by tedocweb.

We have been in this business for over 20 years.

Then, you should have been familiar with best practices, and configured your servers correctly out of the box, with garbage collection enabled. If the customer tells you they have an issue like this, then the first thing you should have checked is if they disabled PHP’s built in garbage collection, and shown them how to fix it. That’s web server management 101.

Customers buy a VPS, install Plesk and start using it e.g. with WordPress.
They don’t know about garbage collection, etc. That is how it is nowadays.

They shouldn’t have to know about garbage collection. That’s the point. If it’s set up correctly out of the box, they would have to go out of their way to turn it off.

No other web hosts have an issue with this. In fact many top web hosts recommend WP-SpamShield.

PHP sessions are a standard feature. Nothing needs to be “fixed”. This plugin and its predecessor have been around for ten years using PHP sessions basically the same way, and this is the first time someone has complained of an issue like that. We do a ridiculous amount of testing, on all different servers, configurations and PHP versions.

We do not give such a review lightly.

There is no excuse to write a review like this without submitting a support request first.

Go scratch the back of your head and fix it somehow.

It’s a bit difficult to fix things that aren’t broken. Again, that is a server management issue.

As plugin developers, there is a certain code of ethics. We should not be interfering with Session management, and we should do our best to avoid messing with a user’s php.ini settings at runtime. Sometimes it is necessary, but it should be the least invasive approach possible. (For example, WordPress itself has to tweak a few things, but it’s non-invasive.) What you’re requesting when you say “go fix it” would require invasive modifications to the user’s settings. For example, if they have their own garbage collection set up, and turn PHP’s off, then if we go and turn it back on, we’d be overriding their php.ini settings. That’s not ok, and would be a bit heavy handed IMO.

For the time being, it is on our blacklist.

Blacklist? WOW. Just so we’re clear…you’re blacklisting one of the highest rated plugins in the WordPress directory, that has almost 200,000 users. Ok.

It just has this problem that can cause a HUGE problem.

Anything can cause a huge problem if your server isn’t configured correctly. As a company that resells hosting and/or manages websites, you should know this.

I suggest you Google “PHP session garbage collection”. More on PHP.net:

• php.ini ‘session.gc_probability’ setting – https://php.net/manual/en/session.configuration.php#ini.session.gc-probability

– Scott

• This reply was modified 8 years, 5 months ago by redsand.
• This reply was modified 8 years, 5 months ago by redsand.