The fit check
Updated
A static copy shows every visitor the same pages. Before anything goes live, WranglePress checks that your site works that way, so you never have a copy that looks right while part of it can't work.
When it checks
- When you add the site. We look at the public home page, the pages it links to that most often show a shop, login, courses or bookings, and the list of plugins WordPress®'s REST API gives away. A site that isn't a fit isn't added, and you see why.
- When the connector plugin connects. The plugin tells us every active plugin (including must-use plugins), whether visitors can register, how many posts have comments open, which pages have a password, and how many visitor accounts (such as subscribers or customers) exist. It never sends names, email addresses or content.
- On every build. Every page we copy is checked, and the plugin is asked again. If the plugin is too old to report all of this, builds wait until it's updated.
The site's page shows the result under Will it work as a static copy?, with what was checked and when.
Not a fit
These need WordPress for each visitor, so a site that has them isn't built or published:
- an online shop (WooCommerce, Easy Digital Downloads and others);
- payments or donations taken by WordPress (GiveWP, WP Simple Pay and others);
- member logins or members-only content (MemberPress, Paid Memberships Pro, Restrict Content, Ultimate Member and others);
- online courses with student logins (LearnDash, LifterLMS, Tutor LMS, Sensei, LearnPress);
- forums or a community with accounts (bbPress, BuddyPress, BuddyBoss, PeepSo, wpForo);
- bookings taken by WordPress (Amelia, Bookly, LatePoint and others; an embedded service like Calendly works);
- a login form for visitors on a public page;
- password-protected pages.
A build that finds one stops copying, fails with the reason, and leaves the live site as it is. If the plugin behind it isn't used any more, deactivate it in WordPress and click Build now to check again.
Won't work on the copy
These don't stop a site, but they won't work on the copy:
- comments (new ones won't appear);
- WordPress's search box;
- links to the WordPress login (often the Meta widget);
- visitor registration and visitor accounts;
- a form plugin we haven't tested with our form relay (Gravity Forms, Ninja Forms, Formidable, Fluent Forms, Forminator, Elementor forms and others);
- filters and "load more" buttons that ask WordPress;
- events calendars that load months from WordPress;
- polls, ratings and likes.
Each one is listed with where we saw it, why it won't work and what you can do. An owner or admin ticks each one to confirm they understand it, and going live waits until they do. Turning on editing here asks for the same confirmation.
Once a site is live, every good build goes live by itself. A build that finds something new that isn't confirmed doesn't: it waits, and owners and admins get an email asking them to check it.
Think we got it wrong?
Write to support@wranglepress.com with the site's address and what the check said.