Best WordPress admin plugin EVER (FREE) Replaces 33 other plugins - Admin Site Enhancements (ASE)

[@wplearninglab]

If you want to get rid of plugins on your WordPress site, check out the plugin killer series here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fZfNfKZnm6h1pqs

[@bob-p7x6j]

I have seen a lot of different videos on this plugin, it seems to be a plugin that many like. I will buy the pro version. I know things can get expensive with too many add-ons but it amazes me that so many people want perfectly coded plugins kept up to date constantly and think they shouldn't have to invest 1 cent for such things... in what other area of life do we demand perfection from products and not expect to pay for such things... Good videos!

[@wplearninglab]

I like the way you think. I was talking to a friend about her car the other day and she said she wants it to last 10 years. It's a luxury SUV that isn't cheap and she's expecting it to wear down and break. And to your point, we expect everything online to be free or super inexpensive and last forever.

[@iXzenoS]

Jack of all trades, master of none. All-in-one plugins like ASE is only useful if you're a plugin hoarder or wordpress beginner with no clue how to manage plugins effectively. For the rest of us, ASE will only clutter our database with a bunch of half-assed features you will likely never use. I would much rather install multiple lightweight, dedicated plugins that each specialize and excel at its job than to replace them with one that won't be able to do much of anything. Unless you're constantly running 30+ heavy duty plugins, removing a few will have no noticeable effect on page speed or server load and most people will be better off investing in something like a solid image optimization plugin that will drastically improve your site metrics.

[@wplearninglab]

Good points. You can also do most of this stuff with scripts in the functions.php file. But there will be some people who prefer what you describe, some people who prefer to use scripts and some people who prefer plugins like ASE.

[@WibowoSulistio]

Basically as @wplearninglab says, but to add a bit, many users probably only need a portion of features from standalone plugins, and having such features aggregated in ASE is definitely handy for such users. So, what you refer to as 'half-assed' features are what such users probably ever need. Since ASE is modular, if a particular module does not have enough features for your requirements, you can simply turn that module off and install a dedicated plugin with more features.

[@fabienb]

@@WibowoSulistio it's actually not as 'modular', because it writes almost everything in a single table in the options (admin_site_enhancements), which then becomes increasingly big to the detriment of performance. My admin_site_enhancements is currently 231163 and on autoload, and it's the bigger option I have together with WPAssetCleanup (which doesn't need to be on autoload though). While I use ASE Pro myself for many of its features, I still prefer plugins that offer lighter options. For example, FluentSnippets writes all its code in separate external files (also easier to backup) and doesn't add weight to the database, while the snippets feature in ASE writes every code in the database in the same table I mentioned earlier, so it can get clunky easily.

[@DanZL1]

Talking about lightweight, what do you recommend for security and SEO?

[@wplearninglab]

Hey Dan, For security: The lightest weight option would be routing your traffic through a non-plugin security platform like Cloudflare. Then make sure to keep your plugins, themes and core files up-to-date and limit login attempts on your login page with a plugin or a custom script. And block access to the XML-RPC.php file via plugin or script. That should cover 99% of automated hacks. For SEO: I think the lightest weight option be using no plugin at all. Set your permalinks to be /post-name and make sure your target keyword or topic is a the beginning of the title of your post and at the beginning of the URL slug or the entire URL slug. For example, if your target keyword/topic is "how to bake cookies". Your post title could be "How to bake cookies - my Grandma's secret recipe". The post slug will be auto-generated and I would edit it to be just my target keyword/topic: /how-to-bake-cookies Then write your post for a normal human and Google will understand what you want to rank for. Whether or not you rank highly will depend on your domain authority, the competition for the keyword/topic, the CTR and time on page for that post and backlinks to that post. After you've done SEO for a while you won't need the SEO checklists that plugins provide any more, it will just come naturally. But you can so use tools outside of WordPress like SurferSEO or NeuronWriter. I hope that helps :) Let me know if you have any further questions. Thanks for watching!

[@EngagingMuscles]

I recently watched a video covering the settings on this plugin, but it didn't provide as much detail as you did. Thanks!

[@wplearninglab]

You're welcome. I prefer to make longer videos that go into the details, everything else is just fluff :)

[@beclickedagency]

Great info ! Happy to have discovered this... One thing : in Content Order, you can't order posts...(The plugin Post Type Order can do pages AND posts)

[@wplearninglab]

This plugin can't do it all, but it does a lot. Perhaps the pro version does pages and posts. I haven't gotten around to trying the pro version yet.

[@thewebstylist]

I’ve been using SO GRATEFUL but this walk thru will even use more now

[@thewebstylist]

Fantastic video, bookmarking!

[@wplearninglab]

I'm happy I could help, thanks for watching!

[@wplearninglab]

Cool, thanks!

[@templatetube]

Thanks for the detailed Video.... Great job... Thumbs up

[@wplearninglab]

Thanks! I'm glad it was/is helpful. Thanks for watching :)

[@ItaPronk]

Thanks for your video! Great plugin; I'm installing it right now!

[@wplearninglab]

It is pretty great. Let me know how it goes!

[@splorch]

One reason to have the ability to clean up dashboard widgets via the plugin rather than via screen options is that it's universal. I manage many sites where the other admins aren't really technical people but use the site for business purposes. I can turn off things they don't need or want to see.

[@wplearninglab]

Good point! And for managing many sites it might be nice to have export settings feature in ASE. Maybe that's in the pro version? I haven't looked into the pro version yet.

[@ziptalia2456]

great vid.... "disable gutenberg" was my favorite.

[@wplearninglab]

Lol, does that mean you're on "the train" or still thinking about getting on?

[@ziptalia2456]

lol… it means outside of blog posts, i will never be on that train 😊

[@wplearninglab]

lol, understandable

[@visualmodo]

Thanks for your video!

[@wplearninglab]

You're welcome, thanks for watching Visual!

[@aofagermo]

There are some settings you mentioned here that are available in the Pro version of the plugin, like whitelisting IP addresses for Limit Login Attempts, and also hide menu items for user roles.

[@wplearninglab]

Thanks for the heads up! I haven't looked too much into the pro version, but I saw that it also gives the ability to export/import settings.

[@aofagermo]

@@wplearninglab You're welcome. I have contributed to the Norwegian translation of both the Free and Pro version of the plugin.

[@wplearninglab]

Nice work! If you have any more tips feel free to drop them here :)

[@aegisgfx]

Ya but how many times am I going to have the close the "GET THE PRO VERSION" popup they'll be showing me every time I go into it?

[@wplearninglab]

haha, I never thought of that. When you turn on the "stop notifications" feature I wonder if that also stops ASE's pro notifications.

[@getatbrian]

Love this plugin so much. I do have the fear though. As this gets more and more popular the target on it's back gets bigger and bigger.

[@wplearninglab]

Do you mean a target for hackers or a target for other plugin devs to make a better plugin? If you mean the second one, that's a good thing :)

[@Line49Design]

Yes, the success of this plugin seems to have inspired its main competitor to wake up. As seen recently on Paul C.'s WP Tuts channel. But Area's developer is a determined and diligent person. I think he'll do just fine.

[@wplearninglab]

I think it would wake me up too if I was a competitor. Competition is good for the market place and the consumer :)

[@getatbrian]

@@wplearninglab hackers! I would imagine the attack surface plane would be pretty large with a plugin like this.

[@wplearninglab]

Depending on how well it's coded, you're probably right. Best to run your traffic through Cloudflare and make sure the plugin is always up-to-date.

[@browardbark]

This is GREAT, Do you have a suggested plugin that will "clean out" junk on our wordpress sites after we uninstall and delete plugins not needed? I like to keep things clean!

[@wplearninglab]

Your best bet is a plugin to delete plugin transients. Plugin transients are data left over by plugins you no longer have on your site. This video should help you with that: kzbin.info/www/bejne/baXRkqVrjK6rq9U Even though that's an old video, I checked and the plugin in that video is still in the WP Repository and it's still being maintained. You might also use what I show in this recent video to clean up images that aren't being used on your site: kzbin.info/www/bejne/b6uVaoR4Zs-HZ6s I hope that helps :) Let me know if you have any further questions. Thanks for watching!

[@rcbilly2009]

Thank you very much for this video

[@wplearninglab]

You're welcome, thanks for taking the time to check it out!

[@frankstone]

Thank you for all the detail you put into this tutorial. As a small time developer, I would use the same "ASE" settings for all my sites. Will ASE allow you you to "export" these settings?

[@wplearninglab]

Hey Frank, I just checked out the main website for ASE and only the Pro version allows you to export settings. With a little bit of digging you could probably find and export ASE's table in the database and just import that table to your sites. I'd recommend extensive testing and using staging sites, but it would be free.

[@FlashQB19]

Great tutorial. What program do you use for your video editing that has the color on your cursor and makes the sections zoom in and out?

[@osvaldowesly9993]

Bjorn is awesome. Anything that he recommends is absolutely something I need to know.

[@wplearninglab]

Thanks Osvaldo, you're too kind. Thanks for watching!

[@geniuslop]

hie i love the awesome plugin.I also wanted to know the name of the transition effect your using,i love it alot

[@wplearninglab]

The burning one is a transition called "Burn Away" in DaVinci Resolve. I think it's in the free and pro version :)

[@graceazlee]

Thanks Bjorn. I've been sceptical of ASE: How does it make enough money to survive so as to be well maintained? The Pro version hardly needs to be used. It will be a major headache if the publisher goes under for whatever reason.

[@wplearninglab]

Hey Grace, that's a good question and one that I don't have an answer for. I'm not sure how Contact Form 7 makes enough money to be maintained, but it has been for nearly a decade. I guess we use this plugin until we don't or can't, then find replacements when we have to. I know it's a headache, but that might be the best way.

[@graceazlee]

@@wplearninglab Thank you

[@KaiBuskirk]

love the beard! blessings!!

[@wplearninglab]

Thanks Kai, it's been a long time! If your YT profile pic is up-to-date you're an OG in beard game. I have some work to do!

[@stokedbeachbum]

I always wonder how good of a job all in one plug-ins do compared to the dedicated plug-in. Maybe you could create a comparison video?

[@wplearninglab]

That's a great idea. I'll look into it, thanks for the suggestion!

[@andytaylor8802]

Does this play nicely with breakdance?

[@wplearninglab]

Hi Andy, I have not tried it Breakdance :(

[@anthonyrude]

Can this plugin disable copy and paste function to stop people from copying my site?

[@wplearninglab]

Hi Anthony, not the free version as far as I can tell, but maybe the pro version.

[@MichaelWilliams-lo3ix]

Awesome

[@wplearninglab]

Agreed :)

[@UrraSergio]

Hi. Nice news. Is it possible to use it together with Security Optimizer?

[@wplearninglab]

Hi Urra, I haven't tried combining it with Security Optimizer. As long as you don't turn on a duplicate function you should be okay. For example, both plugins have limit login attempt functionality. If you're using that, make sure you only turn it on in one of the plugins. If you try it, let us know how it goes!

[@UrraSergio]

@@wplearninglab I think the same. I have to start a new site this week. I'm going to test how they behave if I leave the security in charge of Security Optimizer and the rest managed by ASE. I'll let you know how it went with that configuration.

[@wplearninglab]

Good luck! I'm interested in how they'll work together.

[@BGdev305]

Nice plugin.. but it's not replacing some plugins just because it has ONE setting it controls. Like Admin Columns.. Admin Coulmns does ALOT more than just featured image column. Being able to simply put code in header / footer most certainly does not replace Code Snippets plugin!

[@wplearninglab]

Perhaps not for everyone, but it would replace individual plugins for many. I've installed plugins that had lots of functions, but I only installed them to use one of those functions.

[@TheOsmanSafdar]

Where's the link of the ASE plugin?

[@wplearninglab]

That's classic! I forgot to link to the star of the show. I put it in the description just now and here it is for good measure: wordpress.org/plugins/admin-site-enhancements/

[@twistedcode]

The timestamps are not helpful when they are labelled as number of installs.

[@wplearninglab]

True, true. I'll update them to be the plugin names.

[@WARLORD-SL]

I have been using this for months now, I have encountered some issue with it though

[@leebarnes9486]

Yea, I think all of these admin maneuvering plugins are buggy.

[@wplearninglab]

What are the issues you've been encountering?

[@WibowoSulistio]

You should report the issues you are seeing in ASE's support forum.

[@wplearninglab]

That's good advice :)

[@DanielNeubauer]

What issues did you encounter?

[@PicSta]

If you ever had 33 plugins installed on your WP instance, then you're far away from being a professional developer and should quit your business (even KZbin). I know the title is more a clickbait than anything else, but question what you write ...

[@wplearninglab]

I never said I had these 33 plugins installed. I'm saying ASE can replace these 33 plugins. The words chosen for the title may be flamboyant, but they're not clickbait. Clickbait means the video does not deliver on the promise of the title. In this video I clearly show all 33 plugins that ASE could potentially replace, which is the promise of the title.

[@PicSta]

@@wplearninglab yes, your title is not misleading, that's true. These 33 plugins even in theory sounds crazy. I understand what you try to show, that ASE can replace many plugins in various numbers and use cases.

[@wplearninglab]

You got it. I admit the language in the title is probably a little more "exciting" than it needs to be. But if I make the title too boring, it just sounds boring. There's a fine line...

[@PicSta]

@@wplearninglab Yes, there is a fine line. Also, I didn't want to cause any trouble with my comment. Btw I use ASE Pro, why I 100% like plugin and the almost countless features it offers. In my opinion, it's sad, that we have to have a plugin to cover WP's flaws.

[@wplearninglab]

No trouble caused :) I'm going to try ASE pro soon. It as sad that you plugins to cover WP's flaws, but at the same time I think WP has a robust community built around it precisely because WP can't do everything out of the box.