Websites Down
I’ve used WordPress for over a decade. I read many blogs about NOT using too many plugins. I knew better. Yet, I still did it. I used Mythos Imprint to play with new plugins. The results were a messy database calling Functions and creating Cronjobs for applications that did not exist. I exceeded my daily memory limit just by logging on. I really messed up.
Mythos Imprint relied on two plugins, Comic Easel, and WPArtisan Multisite Crossposter. Comic Easel is used by many webcomic creators for their websites. The plugin is old. I forked a version and changed the code, removing old links, RSS feed, or anything else outdated. WPArtisan Multisite Crossposter posts excerpts and links to other sites. As defined by their WP Plugin page –
In a multisite environment, enables syncing or cross posting of posts, pages, or custom post types from any blog to any other blogs.
The cross-posted articles have exactly the same properties as the original except for the permalink
which links back to the original.
Cross-posting my comics created errors with the WP-Hooks and Media files. It also created a lot of Cronjobs. I notice the issue last summer and have been working off and on to correct that issue. Sadly, I chose optimizing plugins to help correct the incompatibility issues with other plugins. This decision created more data, which increased the size of the database, which ate memory. My multi-network site finally crashed when I was trying to figure out why the Printful plugin I was using was not working with WooCommerce. I could not reach the admin area without exceeding the site’s memory.
I made the decision to create a new installation and merge all my WP sites. There are some basic security plugins I am using as well as WooCommerce plugins. I am using Gutenberg’s reusable blocks to mimic the navigation menu from Comic Easel. No more custom post types. No more plugins. If I cannot get what I want from the native WP engine, then I do not get what I want.
I also disabled WP-Cron. No automated tasks. I’m taking out my own garbage on my own time.
Plugins are fun to play with if a user has an install they do not care about. I should have done what every other authoritative blog about WordPress suggested… do not experiment with plugins on an important installation.
