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MainWP identifies plugins and themes that may be abandoned based on how long since their last update. Abandoned items can pose security risks and compatibility issues since they no longer receive patches or improvements.

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What You’ll Accomplish

  • Understand what “abandoned” means in MainWP
  • Manually check for abandoned plugins across your sites
  • Manually check for abandoned themes across your sites
  • Review abandoned items and decide on replacements

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Prerequisites

  • MainWP Dashboard installed and activated
  • At least one child site connected to your Dashboard
  • Sites synced recently to have current plugin/theme data

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What Does “Abandoned” Mean?

MainWP marks a plugin or theme as “possibly abandoned” when its author has not released an update for the period set in your Dashboard settings. The default threshold is 365 days.
MainWP fetches last-updated information from wordpress.org. Plugins or themes that are delisted from wordpress.org cannot be detected as abandoned.

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Why Abandoned Items Matter

RiskDescription
Security vulnerabilitiesNo patches for discovered security issues
Compatibility issuesMay break with newer WordPress or PHP versions
Missing featuresNo improvements or bug fixes
Support unavailableDeveloper may no longer provide assistance

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Automatic Checks

MainWP automatically checks for abandoned plugins and themes once per day during the scheduled sync process.

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Manual Check from Manage Sites

Manage Sites page with Bulk Actions menu for checking abandoned items
1

Navigate to Manage Sites

Go to MainWP > Sites > Manage Sites.
2

Select sites

Check the boxes next to the sites you want to check.
3

Choose action

In the Bulk Actions menu, select Check Abandoned Plugins or Check Abandoned Themes.
4

Apply

Click Apply.MainWP scans the selected sites for abandoned items.

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Manual Check from Updates Page

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Check Abandoned Plugins

1

Navigate to Abandoned Plugins

Go to MainWP > Updates > Abandoned Plugins.
2

Run check

Click Check for Abandoned Plugins.Abandoned Plugins tab with Check for Abandoned Plugins button

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Check Abandoned Themes

1

Navigate to Abandoned Themes

Go to MainWP > Updates > Abandoned Themes.
2

Run check

Click Check for Abandoned Themes.Abandoned Themes tab with Check for Abandoned Themes button

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Adjust Abandoned Tolerance

Change the number of days before an item is marked as abandoned:
  1. Go to MainWP > Settings
  2. Find Updates Settings
  3. Adjust Abandoned plugins/themes tolerance (default: 365 days)
  4. Click Save Settings

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What to Do with Abandoned Items

When you identify abandoned plugins or themes:
  1. Search for alternatives - Look for actively maintained plugins with similar functionality
  2. Check last commit date - Some plugins on wordpress.org may have active GitHub development
  3. Test replacements - Install alternatives on a staging site first
  4. Plan migration - Replace abandoned items before they cause issues

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Self-Check Checklist

  • Abandoned plugins check completes successfully
  • Abandoned themes check completes successfully
  • Results display in the Updates page
  • Tolerance setting matches your requirements