WordPress Plugin Safety and Management Guide

Installing the wrong plugin can compromise your entire WordPress site. That’s why safely installing and managing WordPress plugins must be treated as a formal business process—not just a technical task. This guide walks through a step-by-step workflow to help teams vet, document, and monitor every plugin they use to minimize risk and maintain control.

Purpose: To establish a mandatory checklist for all staff and contractors to follow before installing any WordPress plugin, in order to prevent malware infections, reduce risk of site compromise, and ensure long-term site stability and security.

Step 1: Identify the Need for a Plugin

Create and maintain an external document that lists the plugins installed for each website (see Steps 6–8).

• In documented written form, clarify the functionality required, justify why the plugin is installed.
• Ensure this functionality cannot be achieved through existing tools, custom code, or a trusted core plugin already installed.

Step 2: Vet the Plugin Source

Create a separate document for all employees who install or manage WordPress sites, listing approved plugin sources and providers (see Steps 6–8).

• Preferably, use wordpress.org as the primary source
• Secondary Sources: Well-known vendors such as CodeCanyon, WPMU DEV, or plugin developers with public reputations.
• Prohibited: Avoid plugins from warez sites, forums, or obscure file-sharing links, and maintain a list of banned plugin vendors.

Step 3: Search for Known Vulnerabilities

Before installation, perform a scan on the plugin.

• Search the plugin on both:
  • https://wpscan.com
  • https://patchstack.com/database
• If the plugin has unresolved vulnerabilities or critical past issues, do not proceed.

Step 4: Scan the Plugin ZIP File for Malware
In cases where the plugin is downloaded as a .zip file

1. Upload it to https://www.virustotal.com/
2. Optional: Also scan via https://siteguarding.com/en/website-malware-scanner
3. Optional: Run a backup test install on a local or staging site and scan using Wordfence or similar.

Avoid proceeding if any engine flags the file as malicious or if you detect obfuscated code or eval(base64_decode(…)).

Step 5: Review the Plugin Author and Reputation

• Additionally, check the author’s website, company profile, or GitHub.
• Read recent reviews and support tickets.
• Confirm that the plugin has been updated within the last 12 months.

Step 6: Maintain a Private Plugin Whitelist

• Save the following information in a shared team document or secure knowledge base:
  • Plugin name and version
  • Download source URL
  • Date tested and approved
  • Notes on any known limitations or special instructions
• Install only the plugins listed here on production servers.

Step 7: Test in Staging or Local Before Production

• Test all plugin installations or upgrades in a staging environment.
• Confirm there are no PHP errors, performance issues, or conflicts with current theme/plugins.

Step 8: Get Approval Before Installing

• Request a review and approval from a senior developer, security lead, or site administrator.
• Record in the change-log who approved the plugin, the reason for its necessity, and the source along with scan results.

Step 9: Install a Periodic Malware Scanning Tool

• Setup and configure a reputable security plugin, such as Wordfence, Sucuri, or MalCare.
• Schedule regular scans of all WordPress core files, themes, and plugins.
• Activate email alerts to notify you of any detected malware, suspicious code, or unauthorized changes.
• Optional, but highly suggested: log results to a shared audit report for review during monthly security checks.

Ongoing Maintenance

• Periodically, re-scan plugins if they haven’t been updated in over a year.
• Monitor vulnerability feeds (Patchstack, WPScan) for new risks to approved plugins.
• Set up a staging auto-update monitor to test plugin updates before deploying them live.

Installing WordPress plugins without a proper vetting process invites unnecessary risk. By following this standard operating procedure, your company can dramatically reduce malware infections, plugin-related outages, and security breaches.