There seem to be plugins added to my site that we did not specifically install. I suspect they may be related to other plugins we did add, perhaps as an opt-out “bonus” that was overlooked during installation.
Aside from contributing to plugin bloat, they seem to be very annoying, with notifications added at the top of my admin pages. Two in particular are OptInMonster and UserFeedback.
I’ve never taken any steps to configure these. Are there any risks to deleting them?
>Are there any risks to deleting them?
Wouldn’t that depend on the functionality they are providing for your website? I mean, are you collecting user emails and user feedback?
Just as a rule of thumb there’s little risk in *deactivating* a plugin you don’t remember adding. The worst that will happen is you’ll notice something missing as you review your site for consequences. The best that will happen is you’ll see a marked improvement in your site’s performance.
I wouldn’t delete them till I was sure they really weren’t contributing something. E.g. do you have a mailing list subscriber popup or form that OptinMonster provides? Or is it just sitting there taking up space? If its’s not doing anything useful then out it goes.
I had this happen to me with those exact plugins, but I can’t remember now which other plugin caused them to be installed. I do know it was a relatively well known one.
You can safely remove the others.