My site came from WordPress and still carries old plugin bits
When a site moves off WordPress, the pages come across with small pieces of WordPress code still inside them. Visitors never see them. They are the settings WordPress plugins print into every page, and links in the hidden top of each page that point back at your old WordPress site.
The prompt
“My site came from WordPress [about a year ago / last month]. Find the old WordPress leftovers on my pages - tell me how many there are on each page and what they are - but don’t remove anything until I say so.”
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On bernard those pieces do nothing, because the WordPress that read them is gone. They are still worth clearing out. Many of them name your old WordPress addresses, such as the admin page and the address that plugins used to talk to, and that advertises “this used to be WordPress” to anyone who reads the page’s code.
What bernard clears out during the move
Sites moved from WordPress now have the leftovers cleared during the move itself, on every page, and the move report counts what went. If your site moved recently, there is usually nothing left to do.
Clearing a site that moved earlier
Ask Bernard to clear out the WordPress leftovers. He works in two steps:
- He looks first. He tells you how many leftovers he found on each page, and what kind they are. Nothing changes while he looks.
- He clears them in one change. When you say go, he removes them from every page together. The change lands on your draft, and nothing reaches your live site until you approve it.
What counts as a leftover
- Old cookie banner settings from a WordPress cookie plugin. Your bernard site has its own banner (How does the cookie banner on my site work?).
- Hidden links to your old WordPress address, such as the WordPress publishing links that help other sites embed your posts. A link goes only when it points at your old site. A link that points anywhere else stays.
- Settings for a plugin that is no longer on the page. Many WordPress plugins print a block of settings next to their own code. When the plugin’s code was not carried across, its settings have nothing left to read them. Bernard removes the block only when the plugin’s code is gone from the page, the block holds nothing but plain settings, and nothing else on the page reads them. For example, an events calendar that still runs keeps its settings.
What Bernard leaves alone
- Anything bernard runs for you, such as your menu, your slideshows and your cookie banner.
- Form and language code from WordPress plugins. Bernard can’t tell whether it still works on a moved page, so he lists it for you instead of removing it.
- Every plugin’s settings on a page that still loads a combined code file from your old site. That file could be reading any of them, so they all stay.
Old WordPress addresses on bernard
Scanners try WordPress addresses on every website, looking for a sign-in page or a weak plugin to break into. Your bernard site has neither, and bernard turns those requests away before they reach your site. Your pictures and files from the old uploads folder are not affected: they keep working at their old addresses.
If you are still in the middle of leaving WordPress, start with Leave WordPress without breaking my email or losing my site.
Questions people ask
- Do these leftovers do any harm?
- Not to your visitors. They are hidden in the code of the page, nobody sees them, and they do nothing on bernard because the WordPress behind them is gone. They are worth clearing because they still name your old WordPress addresses, such as the admin and sign-in pages, and that tells anyone reading your page’s code that a WordPress site used to live there.
- Will clearing them break anything?
- It shouldn’t. Bernard only removes a short list of pieces he can prove have stopped working, and he leaves anything he cannot be sure about. A plugin’s settings stay if the plugin is still running on the page, or if anything else on the page reads them. The change lands on your draft, so you can look at the pages before you approve it, and your version history can take it back.
- My site moved recently. Is there anything to do?
- Probably not. Sites moved from WordPress now have these pieces cleared as part of the move, and the move report says how many went. Asking Bernard to look costs nothing: if there is nothing to remove, he says so.
- Why does Bernard leave my form code alone?
- Because he can’t tell whether it still works. A contact form built with a WordPress forms plugin can keep working after the move, and its code looks the same either way. Bernard lists that code for you instead of removing it. Check the form page, and if you are sure the old code is dead, ask him to remove those pieces by name. As with every change, it waits for your approval.
- Do my old WordPress pictures still work?
- Yes. Pictures and files from your old site’s uploads folder keep working at their old addresses, so a link to one from elsewhere still opens it. Clearing the leftovers never touches your pictures.