Autoloaded Options Optimizer WP Registry grade A. No security issues foundWP RegistryNo security issues foundOpen the reportA

A lean, config-driven WordPress plugin for analyzing and optimizing autoloaded options to improve site performance.

This tool is designed for developers and advanced users to safely diagnose and clean up bloated wp_options tables, a common cause of slow page loads.

Core Philosophy

The development of this plugin is guided by a few key principles:

• Lean & Performant: The plugin is a single file with no frontend assets and minimal overhead. It uses vanilla JavaScript and core WordPress functions to keep things fast and dependency-free.
• Config-Driven Intelligence: All logic for identifying plugins, themes, and "safe" options is managed by a remote config.json file. This allows the plugin's knowledge base to be updated instantly without requiring a full plugin release.
• User Safety First: The plugin prioritizes safety above all else. Actions are intentionally limited to prevent users from accidentally breaking their site. It will only allow disabling autoload for options belonging to inactive plugins/themes or those explicitly marked as safe in the configuration.
• Context-Aware: The tool intelligently uses site context (like the active theme) to apply rules correctly and avoid false positives.

Key Features

• Analyze & Group: Queries the database for all autoloaded options greater than 1KB and groups them by the responsible plugin or theme.
• Remote Intelligence: Fetches a config.json from GitHub to identify options. It uses fnmatch() for both exact and wildcard (*) pattern matching, providing flexible and powerful identification rules.
• Safe Actions: Allows users to disable autoload for single options or in bulk. Actions are only enabled for options from inactive plugins or those whitelisted as "safe."
• Detailed Diagnostics:
  • View Content: A modal allows you to view the raw, unserialized content of any option.
  • Manual Lookup: A form to look up any option by name, not just large ones.
  • Find Source: A powerful diagnostic tool that searches plugin and theme files to find the origin of "Unknown" options.
• Compatibility: Reads and writes to the history log of the official Performance Lab plugin (perflab_aao_disabled_options) for seamless interoperability.
• Automatic Updates: Includes an integrated updater to pull new versions directly from this GitHub repository.

Installation

1. Download the latest autoloaded_options_checker.zip from the Releases page.
2. In your WordPress admin dashboard, navigate to Plugins -> Add New -> Upload Plugin.
3. Upload the ZIP file and activate the plugin.
4. Navigate to Tools -> Autoloaded Options Optimizer to access the tool.

Automated Releases

This repository includes automated release creation using GitHub Actions. When you push a version tag (e.g., v4.1.4), a GitHub release is automatically created.

Manual Release Process

To create a new release:

1. Update version in plugin file:

   # Edit autoloaded_options_checker.php and update both:
   # - Version: X.X.X (in header comment)
   # - AO_PLUGIN_VERSION constant

2. Commit version change:

   git add autoloaded_options_checker.php
   git commit -m "Bump version to X.X.X"

3. Create and push tag:

   git tag vX.X.X
   git push origin main
   git push origin vX.X.X

4. GitHub Actions automatically:

   • Updates the changelog
   • Creates the GitHub release with changelog notes

Manual Release Process

To create a new release:

1. Update version in plugin file:

   # Edit autoloaded_options_checker.php and update both:
   # - Version: X.X.X (in header comment)
   # - AO_PLUGIN_VERSION constant

2. Commit version change:

   git add autoloaded_options_checker.php
   git commit -m "Bump version to X.X.X"

3. Create and push tag:

   git tag vX.X.X
   git push origin main
   git push origin vX.X.X

4. GitHub Actions automatically:

   • Updates the changelog
   • Creates the GitHub release with changelog notes

Changelog Management

The project maintains an automated changelog in CHANGELOG.md following Keep a Changelog format.

Automated Changelog

• Automatic Updates: Changelog is automatically updated when version changes are detected
• Commit Analysis: GitHub Actions analyzes commit messages to categorize changes
• Release Integration: Changelog entries are automatically included in GitHub releases

Changelog Categories

• Added: New features
• Changed: Changes in existing functionality
• Fixed: Bug fixes
• Removed: Removed features
• Security: Security-related changes

Best Practices for Commit Messages

For better automated categorization, use descriptive commit messages:

git commit -m "Add dark mode toggle to settings page"
git commit -m "Fix memory leak in option processing"
git commit -m "Update telemetry endpoint configuration"
git commit -m "Remove deprecated admin notice system"

How It Works: The Analysis Process

The plugin follows a clear priority order to identify the source of each large autoloaded option:

1. Config Mapping: It first checks for a match in the plugin_mappings of the config.json file. This is the most accurate method.
2. Context Check: If a mapping has a context key (e.g., for a specific theme), it verifies that the context is currently active on the site.
3. Core Transient Fallback: If no mapping is found, it identifies generic WordPress core transients (e.g., options starting with _transient_).
4. Guessing: As a last resort, it makes an educated guess based on common plugin prefixes (e.g., wpseo_, elementor_).
5. Unknown: If none of the above methods succeed, the option is marked as "Unknown," and the "Find Source" tool becomes available.

The Intelligence: config.json

The brain of this plugin is the config.json file hosted in this repository. This allows for a clean separation of logic and data.

• plugin_mappings: The primary lookup table. The key is an option name or a pattern (e.g., my_plugin_*), and the value contains the plugin/theme name and its main file path.
• safe_literals & safe_patterns: These arrays contain option names and patterns that are known to be safe for disabling autoload, even if their parent plugin is active. These are typically cache entries, logs, or admin-only data.
• recommendations: Provides user-facing advice and warnings for specific plugins or options, which are displayed in the "Recommendations" card on the admin page.

Telemetry & Data Collection

The plugin includes an optional telemetry feature to help improve coverage for new plugins and themes.

What Data is Collected

When enabled, the plugin sends anonymous usage data including:

• Names and sizes of unknown autoloaded options (>10KB only)
• WordPress and PHP version numbers
• Count of active plugins and themes (no names)
• Configuration version

What is NOT collected:

• Option values or sensitive data
• Site URLs, emails, or personal information
• Names of known plugins/themes
• Database contents or file system data

How to Enable

1. Go to Tools → Autoloaded Options Optimizer
2. Check the "Help Improve the Plugin" option
3. Click "Save Settings"

Manual Data Submission

You can also manually send telemetry data:

1. Enable telemetry in settings
2. Click "Send Telemetry Data Now" button
3. Data is sent securely via HTTPS

Privacy & Data Handling

• Telemetry is completely opt-in
• Data is sent securely via HTTPS
• You can disable telemetry at any time
• Data helps identify popular plugins/themes to add support for

Contributing

While this is primarily a personal tool, feedback and contributions that align with the core philosophy are welcome.

• Bug Reports & Suggestions: Please open an Issue with a clear description of the problem or feature request.
• Improving config.json: If you identify an "Unknown" option and successfully trace its source, please submit a Pull Request to add it to the config.json. This is the easiest and most valuable way to contribute!
• Telemetry Data: The plugin collects anonymous usage data to help identify new plugins/themes. Enable this in settings to contribute to improving the plugin.

License

This plugin is licensed under the GPL v2 or later.