Wordfence

We have been talking about plugins that some hosting companies don’t allow, WP Engine specifically. Last week we talked about WP SuperCache and what makes it where WP Engine doesn’t allow it on their server. Today we want to talk more about Wordfence and what WP Engine thinks about it.

What is Wordfence?

Great question. Wordfence is a security firewall plugin. That might not mean anything to you so basically what it does is it keeps your information from being hacked. More importantly, it keeps your client’s information from being hacked. A firewall is another level of protection that keeps hackers from grabbing information as it is being sent to a website, like doing an online purchase or signing up for something. It also protects the server itself from being hacked.

Why is it not allowed?

Well, the main reason that WP Engine doesn’t allow Wordfence is that they already have it covered. In fact, it’s on the list of plugins that are automatically uninstalled when sites are moved to the server. WP Engine already has several firewalls in place to protect both your site and the server. So it gets removed to protect the speed of your website since it becomes an unnecessary plugin.

What if I want to keep it?

If you feel you absolutely need this plugin, then you may want to find a different hosting company than WP Engine. All hosting companies have plugins they don’t want to be used and this change from company to company. Make sure you do your research and find out what they allow and what they don’t. And if they don’t allow your plugin, well…you will need to decide if you really want the hosting company or the plugin. It could be there is a similar plugin that they do allow.

Hosting companies have reasons for blacklisting plugins. In some cases, it’s because the already do what the plugin does. Sometimes it’s because the plugin itself is bad or is outdated. Whatever the reason you need to make sure your plugins are allowed on whatever host you decide on. Next week lets talk about BrokenLink Catcher, what it does and why it’s on the blacklist.