Pre-transfer plugin check
Catch WP Engine's disallowed plugins before you migrate a site over.
This is an older piece, kept as a record. It reflects the tools and versions of its time — check the dates before relying on any specifics.
WPEngine is a great hosting solution for WordPress websites. Because they offer a self-contained and secure hosting environment, one restriction is that there are a number of plugins that they will not allow on WordPress installations. It’s handy to have a quick way to detect the WPEngine disallowed plugins.
Heads up The list bundled with this plugin is a snapshot from 15th September 2023 and should not be treated as current — WP Engine revises it regularly. Always check the live source at wpengine.com/support/disallowed-plugins before a transfer.
Context worth knowing: in October 2024 the WP Engine ↔ Automattic dispute spilled over into the plugin ecosystem. Advanced Custom Fields was forked on the .org repository into Secure Custom Fields (SCF); ACF itself now ships direct from advancedcustomfields.com. If your disallowed-plugin tooling or your site references ACF, factor that split in.
Note: this plugin is ideally used in development environments, where you may be transferring a site to WPEngine after it’s built, and need to make sure that you haven’t included any of the disallowed plugins.
wpengine-quick-plugin-check.zip
This is a lightweight plugin that will scan your current plugin directory and determine if you are currently running any plugins that will need to be disabled and removed prior to transferring your WordPress installation over to WPEngine.
WPEngine itself is reasonably lenient on this. If they detect any of these plugins in your installation, they’ll give you a 7 day notice period before deleting them, but it’s always nice to make sure that you’ve got everything in hand prior to a site transfer.
This plugin contains the list of WPEngine disallowed plugins as of 15th September 2023. WPEngine may update or add to this list at any time, so it’s worth checking the list at WPEngine’s support site.
You can upload the plugin either by using the Upload function in the Plugins menu in the WordPress admin dashboard,
or copy the folder within the .zip file straight into your /plugins folder, then manually activate the plugin
via the Plugins menu.
Copy the text in the grey box under “Complete List” into disallowed-list to update the plugin’s
list of plugins to check for, if you want to ensure you’re running against the newest list.
I help content-rich organisations understand their data and pull it back into one place. Tell me what specific problems you're having and I'll be happy to talk solutions with you.
Tell me what specific problems you’re having and I’ll be happy to talk solutions with you.