Red Sand Media Group on "[Plugin: WP-SpamShield Anti-Spam] Ineffecient, Inefective, Bloated and Incompatible with Server Side Caching"

Hi Dan,

I'm sorry to hear that you had an issue.

However, I have to ask, why would you post a negative review without even submitting a support request first? You have submitted a support request in the past for a different issue, and we resolved the issue within a day, so you already know that we provide excellent support. I've even said that you could email me directly instead of submitting an official support request if you ever had another issue in the future.

To say this plugin is "bloated", is simply not accurate. If you're relying solely on Vaish for your website speed optimization, then you're doing it wrong. When optimizing a site for speed, the server side caching should be the icing on the cake, not the meat and potatoes.

The plugin is extremely optimized and will actually speed up your site. Benchmarking and speed has been a primary focus from the beginning.

If setting a cookie - a very standard element of websites and web development - is causing your site to slow down that dramatically, then your site development practices have some fundamental problems. Even so, you can choose not to have the plugin set a cookie, by using Compatibility Mode, which we have noted, may help users who wish to use Vaish.

Vaish is known to cause a lot of problems with WordPress. This is a fact, not my opinion. Simply do some web searches on the topic if you don't believe me. Unfortunately Vaish is known to have issues with Cookies and PHP SESSIONS. It will have issues with many plugins or web apps that use these. So, it's not specifically the plugin that isn't compatible with Vaish...it's the fact that Vaish can reduce PHP functionality and impact these very standard features of PHP that WP-SpamShield uses. Use of Vaish will conflict with many open source web apps (including WordPress and many of its plugins). It’s better used, IMO, on a site that is specifically designed to be used with it, and coded to work with its unique characteristics.

You would be absolutely incorrect to say the "top managed WordPress hosts use Vaish". I know exactly which hosts you speak of, and there are many web hosts out there that offer better performance without Vaish. Yes, some do use it, and interestingly enough, they have no problem functioning with the plugin. Many web hosts recommend our plugin, which they would not do if it was "bloated" or hindered performance as you say. I'm not against server-side caching altogether...there are other better server-side caching options IMO.

WordPress site slowdowns are most often caused by undiagnosed PHP errors, configuration issues, memory issues, database issues, missing modules, old mySQL versions, and old PHP versions. Slapping a caching mechanism on top of these can mask the issue but it's not fixing the real problem.

Please take special note of FAQ 15, as it specifically addresses your issue:
"Q: Will WP-SpamShield slow down my site, and is there anything I can do to optimize my site for it?" Real the full FAQ: http://www.redsandmarketing.com/plugins/wp-spamshield/faqs/#faqs_15

Excerpt from the FAQ:

A: WP-SpamShield will not slow down your site, and no further optimization is necessary. It is a very efficient plugin and has been optimized to use a very light server load. Because it keeps spam out of the WordPress database, and helps prevent database bloat, it actually speeds your site up in the long term compared to a site that does not use it.

Clients hire us day in and day out to optimize their sites, and we write plugins that help improve PageSpeed, so that’s one area we specialize in and would never let a plugin slow a site down.

Here is a breakdown...

For the rest of the FAQ, please click here to read it.

If you want to resolve the actual issue on your site please head over to the WP-SpamShield Support Form, and take a moment to fill out a support request. That will allow us to help you diagnose this, find out what the real issue is, and get things working right for you.

Please ask yourself this...When developers spend so much time developing free plugins for the WordPress community, is it really ok to post a 1-star review without making any reasonable effort to receive support? That's simply not the right way to handle things.

If you have an issue with something, submit a support request first, and give the author time to respond. We provide free support for our plugins...all you have to do is submit a support request at the WordPress Plugin Support Page. We provide some of the best support out there.

You might want to take a moment to check out these two posts:

I would understand the negative review if what you were saying was accurate, or if you had submitted a support request and we had treated you poorly or not resolved the issue. However, that is not the case.

I would ask that you reconsider your rating, as it simply isn't accurate.

- Scott