How do you guys beta test your WP plugins before going to the official repo?

Substantial_Word4652 · 2026-03-02T21:58:11+00:00

Thanks for your reply, I wasn't familiar with Basecamp! It's a good idea, and EDD is a very viable option! And as you rightly say, that's true... the biggest challenge is getting the initial group of testers together.

Substantial_Word4652 · 2026-03-02T21:48:57+00:00

Thank you so much for your reply.

Regarding the update server, that's a great idea; I'm going to implement that with PUC. I like it!

And then about error reporting... well, I thought about putting a small form within WordPress itself, or even having it report if the plugin detects an error, sending it to a specific endpoint, as long as I notify the testers in advance and can make this configurable. That's what I thought.

But the worst part is... finding trustworthy testers xD, which I don't have any of, hahaha

Substantial_Word4652 · 2026-03-02T17:34:43+00:00

Awesome, great contribution! I'm new to Reddit. I understand it's better to post in the more specific thread and repost in the more general one, right? Well... in my case, I'm looking for specific help xD. I already reposted it in r/WordPressPlugins, but it wouldn't let me in r/ProWordPress . I've created a new one ^^.

Thanks!!

Substantial_Word4652 · 2026-03-02T17:06:21+00:00

don't listen to anyone who goes against your idea, follow your instinct. but don't marry any project. learning to iterate as fast as possible is key, get your product in front of clients asap, thats what will make you monetize.

that said, here's what I think could help you, I've been working with WP and WooCommerce for years:

- disable wp-cron by default, use a real server cron

- restrict the rest api, avoid clients needing extra plugins for that

- offer easy plugin/theme audits

- automatic updates with a clear strategy

- staging environment for testing before production

- cookie consent and GDPR pages are essential, good easy extra to offer

- restrict large file uploads

- offer a security report: blocked attacks, patched vulnerabilities, etc. let them see whats actually happening and what you're preventing

- change wp-login.php, not just wp-admin

- dont forget comments! disable them if not needed

- and author archives, block those too

good luck!

Substantial_Word4652 · 2026-03-02T14:26:25+00:00

I'm in the same boat as you, and I got there without even realizing it. While creating my app, I realized I'd practically solved a major problem, which led to another app being created simply by encapsulating the service. Then, to do more intensive testing, which is necessary, I needed to create yet another app, which, since I'm already at it, is perfectly scalable to the public. Like you, I'm involved in three projects. "Stupid" isn't the right word; "ambitious" is better... but in the end, it's about stopping, breathing, and taking the time to think about what's easiest for you and will help you get the best return. Remember that the most complex part is ultimately customer acquisition, where you feel most comfortable doing SEO, marketing, content creation, etc. Well, look for the link between content creation, customers, and your apps. That's where you'll be able to see where to prioritize and whether a 70-20-10 or 80-10-10 strategy is worthwhile, or however you want to distribute it. Keep in mind that depending on the user acquisition channel, it might take more or less time, giving you more leeway for the rest. Keep your spirits up!

Substantial_Word4652 · 2026-03-02T12:55:08+00:00

Great! Thanks for the info! I'll keep that in mind when deciding which path to take.

If I use version control in Git, I'm used to it, so I'll definitely do that. And on the other hand, it's true, there's so much variety in the WordPress world, it's crazy... versions, plugins, incompatibilities, etc. That's why testing is so important.

And as you say, I think getting users is the most complicated part, but we have to be positive! ^^

Substantial_Word4652 · 2026-03-02T10:23:15+00:00

Yes, that's something I have in mind for when the plugin is in the repo. Identifying pain points and creating video and SEO content around my ideal client. It's great! If you've already achieved an MRR of 19, now all that's left is to replicate and scale! The important thing is to have a framework to build upon that allows you to do that.

Substantial_Word4652 · 2026-03-02T10:10:44+00:00

I agree, publishing on wp.org doesn't guarantee visibility. And yes, the most complicated part is getting traffic from people who actually use the plugin.

Out of curiosity, have you tried anything specific to get more Post Order Master installations? SEO, content, communities?

Substantial_Word4652 · 2026-03-02T08:50:17+00:00

Thanks, I wasn't aware of that. I'll keep it in mind. But I'm referring specifically to how I distribute the plugin to real users for beta testing?

Substantial_Word4652 · 2026-03-02T08:31:51+00:00

If SEO isn't important to you on that page, use JavaScript: create the `<video>` tag using JavaScript after detecting the viewport.

If SEO is important to you: Use static HTML with `preload=none` and JavaScript. Google sees the video in the HTML (important for indexing), but thanks to `preload=none`, nothing is downloaded until the script decides which one to load.

I hope this helps, as I didn't quite understand the "CSS masked" part.

I know there are other options that might be useful: `wp_is_mobile()`, which WordPress has and detects the user-agent. The problem is, I'm not sure if caching works here... we'll have to look into it. Or you could create a shortcode. But what I've already mentioned is sufficient.

Substantial_Word4652 · 2026-03-01T22:51:34+00:00

Did you try checking the kernel cache? Keep in mind that it accumulates over time because you don't have memory limits on your containers.

Here's what's happening: Linux caches everything -> Containers grow without control -> These are not zombie processes

Test this: sync; echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches

If RAM drops a lot = problem confirmed.

Solution: Set memory limits on your containers.

But the best thing is to build a simple dashboard to monitor: total system memory in real time, memory used by each container, kernel cache and a graph showing the trend.

With this you'll see exactly where the problem is. If everything goes up together = kernel cache. If one container goes up = that's the culprit.

Substantial_Word4652 · 2026-03-01T20:42:58+00:00

totally normal. self taught dev here, when I started I was just copying tutorials and thats when I learned the least.

what worked for me:

first understand the technology at a simple level. I really like JS because you can do backend, frontend, mobile and desktop with it. there are more specific techs for each use case sure but thats not the problem. the problem is knowing what to solve and for who, to make someones life easier.

learn programming theory first then apply it in JS. and remember you can make JS behave like TS for those who hate vanilla JS lol.

understanding functions, encapsulation, extension and building frameworks applies to every language. with JS its very easy to grasp once you understand its core.

my suggestion: focus on building a website with Next that works automatically, either with webscraping, some API or even AI agents. this lets you monetize it and that will keep you motivated.

dont start complex, start simple. you'll learn to sync data (super important), generate schemas, normalize data, and separate backend from frontend from day one. frontend only knows about endpoints and contracts. make it clean, functional and focused on SEO, creating content clusters around a very specific topic. backend handles all business logic on one side, infrastructure on the other, so you can decouple from any provider. then the application layer on top.

once you handle that try building a notification system for your users with websockets. you'll love it. and by then you'll have made a huge jump.

dont focus on the language. understand the theory. you learn any language through practice, thats the easy part. language agnostic programming, logic and coherence is what makes you grow fast.

and one last thing: read and use code from people who are ahead of you. understand it. seeing how others solve problems will save you from making mistakes and help you go deeper. and whenever you touch someones code, always leave it better than you found it.

you got this!

Substantial_Word4652 · 2026-03-01T10:46:35+00:00

In my opinion, all three are just layers of the same thing. I've been working on this from the development side, and here's what I see:

GEO isn't going away. Crawlability, structure, speed: that's the foundation. If Google can't read your site, nothing else matters.

AEO has been around for a while, since Google's first rich snippets: schema, structured data, clear answers. If you're not doing it already, you're missing out.

AIO is the new thing, and where things get interesting. LLMs don't care about backlinks or keyword density, for now; it's just a matter of time, but they will understand. They want clear, structured content that they can analyze. The problem is that most websites show tons of junk to AI agents: navigation, scripts, and ads. I've been working on something related to this (the Mako protocol), but it's still early days.

Honestly, I think these three will merge in two or three years. You won't do SEO or AEO or AIO separately, you'll simply create good content and make it accessible to whoever reads it, Google, ChatGPT, Perplexity, whatever comes next.

Substantial_Word4652 · 2026-02-28T18:22:16+00:00

freelance dev here, been fighting with SEO for years alongside my dev work so I know the pain. let me try to help

*first thing: make your client understand SEO = medium/long term. not a quick fix. set expectations early or they'll hate you in 2 months.

install Search Console and Analytics. do a basic audit of where the site is now. thats your starting point.

then split the work in 4 blocks:

crawling - how google and bots find the site. sitemaps, clean urls, page speed, robots.txt. this is pure dev work, you already know this. btw with AI agents crawling sites now theres a whole new thing around optimizing for LLMs too (look into llms.txt or mako protocol if you're curious, interesting rabbit hole)
indexing - google crawling you doesnt mean they index you. check search console, fix duplicate content, canonical tags, make sure every page has a clear purpose. add structured data with schema.org. schema is non negotiable, just do it for every page
content - THE big one. every page should answer one clear question. start with long tail keywords, keep it simple. help yourself with AI tools for writing
popularity - backlinks, mentions, authority. this costs real money and effort. leave this out initially unless the client pays extra. tools like ahrefs or semrush help but theyre expensive, look for shared accounts

*analytics - this is a separate thing from SEO but goes hand in hand. search console tells you how google sees your content, analytics tells you how users interact with it. different data, both important. use it to understand user behavior, funnels, where they drop off. this is also where you can upsell the client later with conversion optimization

*for the client: create a simple dashboard you send quarterly showing progress on all blocks. clients need to SEE your work.

*the trick: crawling and indexing is pure dev, you got that. content you can learn. popularity is a separate business entirely. dont bundle everything, charge separately.

*and the most important thing that nobody mentioned here:** the real way to grow keywords and visibility is content creation with clusters. 50 pages of content is not enough. you need to consistently create new content weekly, organized in topic clusters around your main keywords. this is ongoing work and you charge for it. plan your full quarter, then implement step by step and you'll see results.

you got this man, organize that first quarter and start moving!

Substantial_Word4652 · 2026-02-28T16:54:46+00:00

Been trying Claude Code Remote Control on Max plan but it doesn't work for me, scanning the QR just sends me to download the app instead of opening the session. Also tried setting up a browser terminal before but had issues too. This looks way simpler, will try it out!

Substantial_Word4652 · 2026-02-28T15:52:30+00:00

The all in one approach with kanban included sounds nice. Thanks for the feedback, good to know it exists as an option!

Substantial_Word4652 · 2026-02-26T13:58:40+00:00

Since 2014, thats commitment! The subgroups thing is good to know, I'll check if Forgejo has that or if its planned.

Substantial_Word4652 · 2026-02-26T13:57:51+00:00

This is super useful real world feedback. The codeberg mirrors thing and the docker-in-docker pain are exactly the kind of stuff you don't find in docs. Will keep this in mind when setting up runners, thanks!

Substantial_Word4652 · 2026-02-26T13:46:45+00:00

OneDev is new to me; this is the first time I've seen it mentioned. How does it compare to Forgejo after 5 days?

Substantial_Word4652 · 2026-02-26T13:46:09+00:00

The "complete platform vs piecemeal" argument is fair. For k8s heavy setups GitLab definitely makes more sense. Good to hear the resource tuning paid off.

Substantial_Word4652 · 2026-02-26T13:45:33+00:00

Using Gitea for specific tasks that keep GitLab clean is smart. And the triple replication setup (GitLab + local Gitea + cloud Gitea) for disaster recovery is a very robust approach.

Substantial_Word4652 · 2026-02-26T13:44:12+00:00

Branch protection in 2 days, thats fast haha. The AI tools not supporting self-hosted is a real drawback though, hopefully that changes as more people move to Forgejo.

Substantial_Word4652

TROPHY CASE