Just a few weeks in the past, WP Ninjas introduced it was entering into the media optimization plugin market. The staff launched its Take away Unused Media plugin as a business venture for tidying cupboard space. I obtained a full copy of it and put it via the ropes.
With so many business plugins, I’m accustomed to the builders creating a completely new menu merchandise, taking on treasured admin actual property. This occurs even with those who simply have a single display too. Nevertheless, I used to be pleased to see the WP Ninjas staff tucked all the things neatly underneath “Media” as a sub-menu. We have been off to a very good begin, and issues solely received higher.
After I evaluation plugins, there’s one factor that I persistently preach: simplicity. That begins with following the core WordPress UI and sticking as carefully to it because the plugin’s options will enable. In essence, don’t make me assume about methods to use your plugin.
For essentially the most half, Take away Unused Media received the person expertise proper.
I may nitpick just a few design decisions with the interface, resembling modifying the listing desk with rounded corners and additional padding. The “filter” sub-navigation additionally deviates from the usual. And, the “final evaluation” message ought to obtain the WordPress admin discover therapy in order that it stands out.
These are all core UI parts with pointless customizations. Nevertheless, they didn’t diminish the expertise on the entire. The plugin largely caught with the WordPress normal.
The true query is whether or not the plugin does what it says on the tin. What’s the expertise of eradicating unused media like?
It was straightforward. Customers merely must click on the “Begin Evaluation” button and wait just a few seconds. The plugin then has three tabs:
- Unused Media
- Used Media
- Ignored
The Unused Media tab presents an summary of all media that the plugin couldn’t discover used on the positioning. There’s a chance that it missed one thing. Nevertheless, I solely discovered one old-school situation the place this occurred, which I’ll dive into later.
From this level, end-users can manually delete particular person media attachments or use the bulk-delete choice. Earlier than doing so, the plugin recommends making a backup of the positioning — strong recommendation for any such plugin.
My favourite characteristic of the plugin was not its major characteristic of deleting media. It was really the “Used Media” display. Its “The place?” and “How?” columns break down the place pictures, movies, and different information are used and in what context.
It jogged my memory of the “situations” display for the WordPress admin block listing proposal from 2019. The idea confirmed the place particular blocks have been used throughout the positioning. Take away Unused Media does the identical factor for media information.
The “Ignore” tab for the plugin retains observe of media information that shouldn’t be deleted, even when they’re unused. Customers can click on a hyperlink from the opposite screens so as to add them to the listing. This persists after working a brand new evaluation too.
The plugin scans a number of third-party plugins like Elementor, Beaver Builder, ACF, and Yoast web optimization. Some retailer media situations outdoors of the submit content material, resembling in customized submit meta, and Take away Unused Media searches these particular fields.
Pricing begins at 39€ ($45.38 at right now’s trade fee) for one yr of assist and updates for a single web site. It additionally has a five-site choice at 149€ and a 100-site tier at 299€.
For the primary model, the person expertise felt strong. Nevertheless, it doesn’t have a lot in the way in which of customizability. That might be a sticking level for customers who’re searching for a extra versatile premium choice.
Exploring Options
The plugin shouldn’t be the primary of its form. The Media Cleaner plugin by Meow Apps is free, routinely up to date, and has over 40,000 energetic installations. It additionally has a business model with extra options, resembling third-party plugin integration, WP-CLI assist, filesystem scan, and live-site evaluation.
The UI for Take away Unused Media feels extra like WordPress. Its “Used” tab additionally reveals the place (i.e., what posts) and the way (e.g., content material, featured picture) particular media information are used throughout the positioning. This characteristic alone makes it worthwhile for me.
One space the place Media Cleaner shines is its choice for ignoring (not deleting) connected media. This can be a very important characteristic if customers have ever added the previous gallery shortcode. At one level, WordPress merely displayed all connected pictures as a gallery. Finally, it specified the IDs within the shortcode. Nevertheless, for these older situations, this was not the case. With out enabling this selection, these media objects would possibly get queued up for deletion.
The Take away Unused Media plugin doesn’t have such an choice. Hooked up pictures that aren’t explicitly used are thought-about unused. This will not be a problem for many customers, however these with previous gallery shortcodes ought to concentrate on potential issues.
The baseline options for each are related. Take away Unused Media will get the sting in its default person interface and expertise. Nevertheless, Media Cleaner has many extra choices for customizing how the plugin works. Plus, customers who can’t afford an improve can all the time run the free model.
This isn’t to say both is healthier or worse than the opposite. Each have been strong choices in my checks. I simply need to merge one of the best options from every, snagging the interface from Take away Unused Media and the configurability of Media Cleaner.