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What trails left after plugin removal?
I’m a little paranoic about all the trash after plugins use – i’m trying not to install any plugins (even on browsers or any other programs), because they will leave at least empty folders in the program’s directory.
So the question is: what kind of trails do plugins leave after their removal?
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Re: What trails left after plugin removal?
Depends on what they use and how they are coded. Some leave everything, other nothing.
Common places are txp_prefs and their own tables in the database.
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#3 2013-03-11 13:32:42
- uli
- Moderator
- From: Cologne
- Registered: 2006-08-15
- Posts: 4,306
Re: What trails left after plugin removal?
Depends, as always. Some add settings to TXP’s prefs table, some change txp_forms (adi_variables), some alter txp_section (esq_sectionsort), some the textpattern table itself (stm_article_order), some add their own table(s), some put files on your server, (root directory, AFAICT, e.g. abl_droploader). Many plugins can be removed without traces, though, some are even programmed to clean up behind them on removal.
If you want to experiment quite heavily, backup your database with e.g. rss_admin_db_manager and use an FTP application with sync support so you can erase file and directory traces more easily.
Last edited by uli (2013-03-11 13:34:24)
In bad weather I never leave home without wet_plugout, smd_where_used and adi_form_links
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Re: What trails left after plugin removal?
Maybe there is a simple solution to clean installation from those trails? Even if it will delete all the other plugins. For example I’ve installed too much plugins, I’m going to txp admin where I disable all plugins, then deleting them, then I should delete ‘this’ database table and clear ‘that’ folder. Voila – all plugins are completely removed.
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Re: What trails left after plugin removal?
It’s not that simple. It may be best to ask in the forum of the plugin you are removing then the author or experienced users can report back on what it would take to clean things up.
Piwik Dashboard, Google Analytics Dashboard, Minibar, Article Image Colorpicker, Admin Datepicker, Admin Google Map, Admin Colorpicker
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Re: What trails left after plugin removal?
The cleaning is and needs to be plugin specific. Only the plugin and its developer knows what the plugin creates and what it can safely remove.
For instances, all mine come with embedded uninstaller. Each time you delete one, it removes any references created by it initially. This normally involves removing Preference strings and the few database tables some create. But no of them will remove Textpattern’s own content (content not hold in its own preferences or tables), your translations or files, since that stuff is yours and not reserved by the plugin.
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