What are the default Plugins installed in the WordPress
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What are the default Plugins installed in the WordPress

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Have you installed WordPress and are wondering – what are the default plugins installed in WordPress? Let’s address the matter in more detail.

Default plugins come packed in the WordPress installation. You can see the default plugins on the page after setting up WordPress.

The default plugins are not activated by default. You can also delete such plugins if you don’t prefer using them on your WordPress website.

Let’s learn more about default plugins installed in the WordPress package.

What are the default plugins installed in WordPress?

Note: In the dashboard, you can see the “deactivated” status for the default plugins. However, we recommend removing inactive plugins for security precautions.

By default, WordPress core comes with the following two plugins.

Akismet

The plugin for managing spam comments, Akismet, helps site owners filter, delete, and manage spam comments automatically. Akismet is a spam detection plugin; once you’ve set up Akismet, you don’t need to change, handle, or manage different settings for spam comments.

Note: Akismet comes deactivated by default in WordPress. Once enabled, you can set essential measures to check, track, and manage spam comments on your website.

What are the default plugins installed in the WordPress

Akismet maintains a spam database on the Internet. When someone leaves a comment, link, or reply on a post, Akismet checks if the comment matches spam entries previously tracked down. Next, you can manage the comments under Manage in the WordPress dashboard.

Users can manage spam comments in the WordPress dashboard in real-time. However, Akismet deletes spam comments if a user has not taken action in the past 15 days.

Akismet is available in the WordPress official plugins directory. Its official page offers more features.

Akismet Anti-spam: Spam Protection

Sometimes, Akismet may flag legitimate comments as spam. You can also manage spam comments manually in the WordPress dashboard and decide if Akismthe et has flagged genuine comments. However, there is another way of handling new comments on WordPress posts.

In WordPress comments settings, you can use the option “Comments must be manually approved.” This option helps you manually check for spam comments and approve comments where you feel they make sense. You can use this option—especially if you’re not using Akismet for comment moderation in WordPress.

Also, if Akismet marks a user as a spammer, accurate comments are trashed as spam – even if the user didn’t post a comment with malicious intent.

Hello Dolly

When enabled in WordPress, Hello Dolly shows a random lyric from “Hello, Dolly” in the WordPress dashboard.

Hello, Dolly was the lyric sung by the famous Louis Armstrong. Hello Dolly, as a plugin, it has no valuable purpose for WordPress users. This plugin is more tailored to hope, feelings, and entertainment purposes for WordPress users.

Hello Dolly was the first plugin packed into the WordPress core in the old days. One of the first versions of WordPress core, 1.2 – came packed with the Hello Dolly plugin inside. In May 2004, WordPress co-founder – Matt Mullenweg created the Hello Dolly plugin.

What are the default plugins installed in the WordPress

Hello Dolly has no practical purpose for WordPress sites. Its reason for inclusion in WordPress core favors tradition, history, and memories of the WordPress old days.

As described above, the default plugins in WordPress installation are not activated by default. If you don’t prefer using Hello Dolly in WordPress, you can safely remove it from the plugins list.

Note: We recommend removing unused plugins from WordPress – not just Hello Dolly. Hackers often target default assets, such as backdoors, to hide their malicious code in WordPress.

The official reason for Hello Dolly’s inclusion in WordPress—as described by its developers — favors plugin development for beginners. However, the purpose seems more promising from the entertainment aspect of Hello Dolly.

Default Plugins in Past versions of WordPress

If you’re willing to explore WordPress’ past versions, you can experience WordPress default plugins used to come with core files.

The reason why those plugins vanished is uncertain. However, here is the list of plugins used to come with past versions of WordPress.

Search Hilite

One of the oldest plugins of WordPress, Search Hilite helps users highlight search queries on pages. When users come from search engines, the plugin highlights search terms users search for on Google, Yahoo, or WordPress.

Search Hilite is no longer part of the WordPress core. If you see the plugin’s official page on the WordPress directory, the plugin was last updated 18 years ago.

What are the default plugins installed in the WordPress

Mark Down

Mark Down helped users convert text into HTML documents. This plugin is no longer available in the WordPress core.

Others plugins

WordPress initial versions include default plugins for small tasks, such as text wrapping, which were later removed from the WordPress core package.

Note: Abandoned plugins don’t work with the latest WordPress core. If you want to explore outdated plugins, themes, or scripts in WordPress, building WordPress infrastructure with past versions is the only option. You can download past versions of WordPress from the official directory.

Should you delete the WordPress default plugins?

You can safely delete the Hello Dolly plugin from WordPress. However, removing Akismet highly depends on your personal preference.

As described above, Akismet helps you manage spam conversations on posts; you can remove Akismet if your content doesn’t get many comments.

On the other hand, you can also set additional measures to better manage spam comments on WordPress content.

In this regard, the WordPress Discussion page helps you set the necessary options for spam comments. Select the option that allows you to manage new comments in WordPress manually.

After setting up the option on the WordPress dashboard -> Discussion page, WordPress holds new comments for edits, moderation, or further management. After you’ve reviewed new comments, you can approve or make changes as required based on what you think is acceptable on your site.

Lastly, you can check various plugins for comment moderation. If a plugin suits your needs, site speed, and improved performance, you can safely use it in the dashboard. On the other hand, a proper site audit may help you choose the best solution for various functions on your site.

Final Thoughts

In this write-up, we learned about WordPress default plugins. Let’s summarize the answer to the question: What are the default plugins installed in WordPress?

By default, the WordPress core package contains two plugins – Akismet and Hello Dolly.

Akismet manages spam comments on WordPress content, while Hello Dolly is about the tradition, motivation, and history of the WordPress old days. When activated in WordPress, Hello Dolly shows random lyrics from the famous song – Hello Dolly.

The previous WordPress versions came with more plugins by default, such as the ones defined above. Later, WordPress officials removed them for no particular reason.

Simply put, the plugins packed in the WordPress package are default plugins. WordPress keeps such plugins inactive in the dashboard. However, deleting inactive plugins, themes, or 3rd party scripts in WordPress is better for security purposes.

The entire game of WordPress maintenance starts with keeping things simple, updated, and error-free. If you’re not technical enough and lack WordPress knowledge, you can consult our professionals for more information on support services, tools, and live sessions.

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