wordpress-website-lifecycle/mu-plugins

MU plugins

This directory catalogs standalone must-use plugins and related operations notes. Install only the required PHP files into a website's wp-content/mu-plugins/ directory.

Development

devberry.php

Development and staging websites can be indexed or mistaken for production by visitors.

Discourages search engines, requires visitors to log in, and displays a purple environment marker with the active theme name and version.

Security and access

_core-disable-login.php

Public authentication may need to be suspended without taking the website offline.

Rejects every WordPress username and password authentication attempt.

_core-pingback.php

XML-RPC pingbacks can reveal the origin IP address behind a firewall or reverse proxy.

Removes the pingback.ping XML-RPC method.

_core-username.php

Whitespace in usernames creates confusing and error-prone account identifiers.

Removes whitespace while WordPress performs strict username sanitization.

_core-block-public-query-vars.php

Public query variables expose an alternative frontend request interface that bypasses permalink routes.

Returns a 404 response when a public query variable is passed in the query string, while allowing searches and authenticated previews.

waf4wordpress.php

Malicious HTTP requests can reach WordPress before application-level defenses inspect them.

Initializes WAF for WordPress core event handling and exposes its request analyzer as a drop-in on the Plugins screen.

_robots-gptbot.php

Automated AI crawling can consume resources or reuse content against the publisher's preference.

Adds a site-wide disallow rule for GPTBot to robots.txt on public websites.

_robots-oszkbot.php

Automated web archiving can capture content against the website owner's preference.

Adds a site-wide disallow rule for OSZKbot to robots.txt on public websites.

WordPress administration

_core-debrand-wordpress.php

WordPress branding and informational screens distract users from managing their website.

Removes the WordPress toolbar menu and footer text, and redirects the About, Credits, Freedoms, Privacy, and Contribute screens.

_core-admin-email-confirm.php

Periodic administrator email confirmation interrupts routine work on centrally maintained websites.

Disables the WordPress administrator email confirmation reminder.

_core-child-themes.php

Activating a parent theme while its child theme is available can silently bypass site customizations.

Reverts the activation and displays an administrator notice when an installed child theme should be used instead.

_core-disable-command-palette.php

An unused command palette adds unnecessary assets and another interface for administrators to learn.

Prevents WordPress from enqueueing command palette assets.

_core-disable-custom-css.php

CSS edited in the Customizer bypasses the version-controlled theme deployment process.

Removes the Additional CSS section from the Customizer.

_core-disallow-site-health.php

Site Health exposes diagnostics that are not actionable for users of a centrally managed website.

Revokes access to Site Health checks and replaces the core Site Health service with a no-op implementation.

_core-disallow-updates.php

Administrators can bypass the Composer-managed deployment process.

Removes core, plugin, theme, and translation installation and update capabilities, and emails the administrator when a plugin is activated or deactivated.

_core-disallowed-plugins.php

Plugins that duplicate hosting services or introduce unsafe functionality can compromise a managed website.

Automatically deactivates listed plugins and prevents administrators from activating them again.

_core-theme-subdir.php

Theme archives containing an extra theme/ directory cannot be installed with the standard uploader.

Adjusts source selection during manual theme uploads so WordPress can locate the actual theme directory.

_core-comment.php

Routine comment moderation emails create unnecessary noise for the site administrator.

Removes the administrator email address from comment moderation recipients.

_core-fse.php

WordPress global style output is redundant when the theme fully controls frontend styling.

Removes global stylesheet and SVG filter output from the frontend.

_core-jquery-migrate.php

Loading jQuery Migrate for modern frontend code adds unnecessary JavaScript overhead.

Removes jQuery Migrate from the frontend jQuery dependencies.

_core-media-file-name.php

Non-ASCII media filenames create portability and URL-handling problems across systems.

Transliterates uploaded and sideloaded media filenames to an ASCII-safe character set.

_core-post-by-email.php

An unused legacy publishing channel increases configuration and security surface.

Disables the post-by-email configuration interface.

_core-reg-new-user.php

Administrators receive redundant notifications for routine user registrations.

Sends the new-account notification only to the registered user.

_core-slug.php

Unsupported symbols in slugs can produce unstable or hard-to-share URLs.

Restricts slug input to printable ASCII characters, Unicode letters, and Unicode numbers before WordPress performs its normal sanitization.

HTTP and routing

_core-http.php

Silent HTTP failures and inappropriate cache headers make integrations harder to operate reliably.

Suppresses WordPress HTTPS detection, logs failed outbound requests, and removes the legacy Pragma header from HTTP/1.1 and newer responses.

_core-auto-trailing-slash.php

Inconsistent trailing slashes create duplicate URLs and fragmented cache entries.

Adds an Apache rewrite rule that redirects extensionless paths to their trailing-slash form.

_core-dot-404.php

Requests for nonexistent file-like paths waste application resources and obscure malicious traffic.

Returns an early plain-text 404 response for dotted paths that are not on the explicit allowlist and logs the request as suspicious.

_core-http-query-string-errors.php

Noncanonical query strings can cause inconsistent request parsing and analytics attribution.

Logs query strings containing plus signs, asterisks, or lowercase hexadecimal percent-encoding.

_core-http-reencode-not-encoded-characters.php

Improperly encoded campaign parameters can be interpreted differently by clients and WordPress.

Rebuilds request query parameters using RFC 3986 encoding before normal request processing.

_core-php-bug-50921.php

Fatal PHP errors reported as successful responses can be cached and missed by monitoring.

Changes the response status to 500 Internal Server Error when a fatal error is detected during shutdown.

Operations and observability

_core-log-deprecated.php

Deprecated WordPress APIs can remain unnoticed until an upgrade breaks website functionality.

Logs deprecated functions, constructors, files, arguments, and hooks when they are used.

_core-mail.php

Email failures and implementation-revealing headers reduce operational visibility and privacy.

Removes the X-Mailer header and sends WordPress mail failures to the PHP and system logs.

_core-migration.php

A copied website can continue performing production operations on the old server after migration.

Labels the old login screen and blocks WP-Cron, outbound HTTP requests, email, and Action Scheduler execution.

Caution: Remove this MU plugin after the migration is complete.

_core-cron.php

A stalled WP-Cron runner can leave scheduled business processes unexecuted without a visible signal.

Records the timestamp of the latest WP-Cron invocation for external monitoring.

_core-wp-cron-logger.php

WP-Cron loopback failures and unexpected callback output are otherwise difficult to diagnose.

Logs errors and nonempty response bodies from the HTTP request used to spawn WP-Cron.

Plugin integrations

advanced-custom-fields.php

Site users can modify code-managed field groups or encounter irrelevant premium promotions.

Hides the ACF administration screens and the field-group premium features panel.

contact-form-7-sender-error.php

Valid external sender addresses can be blocked by Contact Form 7's site-domain validator.

Removes sender-domain validation errors from the primary and secondary mail configurations.

disqus-comment-system.php

Disqus API failures can silently interrupt comment synchronization.

Logs the response body of unsuccessful Disqus API requests.

easy-social-sharing.php

A bundled premium plugin can attempt updates outside the managed deployment process.

Disables the Easy Social Share Buttons update manager.

elementor.php

Elementor onboarding, promotions, tracking prompts, and remote services create distraction and external dependencies.

Disables tracking, AI, onboarding, promotional modules, remote feeds, upsells, and related admin noise while retaining the functional editor screens.

envato-market.md

ThemeForest software can fall behind when the Envato Market plugin cannot be refreshed repeatably.

Provides instructions and a shell script that reinstalls the latest Envato Market plugin from its GitHub repository.

flamingo.php

An unused address book adds menu clutter and exposes an unnecessary contact overview.

Removes the Flamingo Address Book submenu.

fluent-smtp.php

Accidental non-production email and promotional admin content create operational risk and distraction.

Simulates email outside production and removes FluentSMTP support, documentation, subscription, and promotional interface elements.

gravityforms.php

Default Gravity Forms behavior permits unmanaged updates, telemetry, noisy administration, and inconsistent email output.

Disables update and telemetry services, cleans the administration interface, normalizes multipart email, moves the honeypot, and delays inline form scripts.

hellopack-client.php

A backend maintenance plugin adds unnecessary frontend request overhead.

Removes HelloPack from the active plugin list on normal frontend requests while keeping it active for administration, cron, CLI, REST, and XML-RPC.

jetpack.php

Unused Jetpack modules introduce unnecessary external services, processing, and admin content.

Removes selected Jetpack modules from availability and hides the Newsletter dashboard widget.

js_composer.php

WPBakery can attempt updates outside the managed deployment process.

Disables the WPBakery Visual Composer update manager and bypasses its purchase code check.

metronet-tag-manager.php

Analytics tags must not run before a visitor has granted analytics consent.

Returns an empty Metronet Tag Manager configuration until CookieYes records analytics consent.

polylang.php

A setup wizard interrupts repeatable deployment of a preconfigured multilingual website.

Defines a no-op Polylang wizard before the plugin attempts to start it.

redux-framework.php

Theme frameworks can make unwanted remote requests and expose unnecessary AJAX endpoints.

Suppresses Redux Framework update checks and removes its public and private AJAX handlers.

simple-history-mail.php

Successful outgoing email has no audit trail when only failures are recorded.

Logs successful WordPress email delivery to Simple History or falls back to the PHP error log.

sogo-accessibility.php

An unnecessary license check creates an external dependency in the administration interface.

Blocks the SOGO Accessibility license-check HTTP request.

tgmpa.php

Themes can prompt users to install bundled plugins outside the managed deployment process.

Removes procedural and object-oriented TGMPA registration callbacks.

Caution: Replace the CUSTOM-FUNCTION placeholder before use.

the-events-calendar.php

Missing shared translations expose untranslated event-management strings to users.

Loads the tribe-common text domain from the WordPress language directory.

woocommerce-order-action-resend-completed.php

Support staff need to resend a completed-order email without changing the order status.

Adds an order action that triggers the customer completed-order notification and records an order note.

woocommerce.php

WooCommerce's optional administration, promotion, tracking, and background features add operational complexity.

Disables selected WooCommerce features, onboarding, promotions, telemetry, and the Action Scheduler async runner; it also logs failed actions and limits access to diagnostics.

wordpress-seo.php

Promotional support content and unwanted structured data clutter Yoast SEO on a managed website.

Removes Yoast linking data, HelpScout, premium upsells, and premium submenu pages.

wp-security-audit-log.php

Commercial screens and broad access to audit settings increase admin clutter and exposure.

Removes WP Activity Log premium views and restricts its settings to the primary administrator account.

wp-user-activity.php

A dedicated top-level activity menu adds unnecessary WordPress administration clutter.

Moves the WP User Activity menu below Dashboard.

yith-premium.php

YITH premium plugins can attempt updates outside the managed deployment process.

Provides a no-op YITH upgrade manager.

Theme integrations

theme-avada.php

Avada's bundled patcher and updater can modify software outside the managed deployment process.

Provides no-op implementations of the Fusion patcher, patch checker, and updater.

theme-unity.md

Releases of plugins bundled by the Unity theme are difficult to monitor through normal WordPress updates.

Provides instructions and a shell script that compares remote modification dates for the bundled WPBakery and Revolution Slider archives.