Has it been that long already? Yep – around one year ago, the infamous Jetpack plugin package was launched by Automattic. At the time, it attracted its fair share of adulation and controversy. Our very own James Farmer was revealing in his own opinion of what it meant for WordPress users and developers.
Personally, I have never used Jetpack. It is just another plugin that I have to delete when I first fire up a fresh install of WordPress (that and bloody Hello Dolly – when is that plugin going to die?). It just seems all too much like a very deliberate commercial venture. Whilst there is nothing with that in principle, in my opinion it clashes rather jarringly with the whole WordPress.org open source concept.
Maybe I am missing out – perhaps Jetpack offers some revolutionary features that have completely passed me by. Since it was released just over a year ago now, I am curious – what are your thoughts on Jetpack? Do you like it? Do you use it? What are you opinions on Automattic’s behavior in including it on the vast majority of default WordPress installs? Let us know in the comments section!
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This plugin is a no-go for me and lots of other users! I’ll give you the reasons:
- it’s phoning home (and therefore against the .org repository guidelines…)
- it doesn’t respect privacy laws, for example in lots of European countries
- the packaged translation files for most languages are from .org community GlotPress and totally mixed up/not moderated and therefore not useable as lots of the modules regarding frontend or backend stuff for editors…
- it had critical bugs with most of it’s major versions (though they got fixed superfast!)
- it brings overhaul to the WP install where most users may only need one or two modules of it…
All in all: never use it! Show Automattic that this is the wrong way of doing a plugin. I don’t want them to overtake my WP install…
P.S. Akismet plugin has the same phoning home/privacy issues and should not be used in some countries for legal reasons!
I used it for a while and like many it was just too big and tried to accomplish too many unrelated tasks. I like all-in-one plugins when they’re features are related but have little use for them otherwise.
Not sure what the problem is here? If don’t want to use Jetpack you don’t need to install it. Jetpack does not come pre-installed with WordPress and if it does for you it’s because of a commercial relationship with the hosting company.
Many users install WP through their CPanel and many hosts include it. I’d agree with the Author that I delete if (if it was installed) and also Hello Dolly. Typically I install WP from scratch so no, it’s not a big deal. So many things “phone home” these days its hard to keep track. Fire up a network sniffer sometime at home and you’ll want to just shut off your internet connection :-)
My two cents, only use a plugin if you really need the feature. Trying to accomplish too many things with one just mean greater potential for problems if that plugin stops working for some reason. Don’t put too many eggs in one basket.
I think that Jetpack is a dangerous thing. I removed it and went back to plugins like wassup.
Among all the issues. The social network sharing buttons had a problem with googlebot, i discovered that after installing this jetpack feature googlebot added a parameter at the end of all my links like ?share=XXXXX
It never happened with another similar WP plugin.
Also, i discovered Jetpack stats were not accurate. I installed Wassup and Jetpack and could never reconcile Wassup Data and Jetpack data. Jetpack over estimates the number of visitors and people who click on one your website link.
I think it multiplied by 2 the number of outcoming clicks. I know it cause i have affiliate links and checked in various affiliate accounts.
I don’t trust jetpack anymore and add no benefits from it.
Can’t stand Jetpack. The majority of its features are completely useless to nearly everyone (Pretty Math, really?) It’s like all that shit that used to come on new HP computers – a lot of bloat with no real purpose other than to tie you to wordpress.com
Has it been that long already? Yep – around one year ago, the infamous Jetpack plugin package was launched by Automattic. At the time, it attracted its fair share of adulation and controversy. Our very own James Farmer was revealing in his own opinion of what it meant for WordPress users and developers.
This plugin is a no-go for me and lots of other users! I’ll give you the reasons:
- it’s phoning home (and therefore against the .org repository guidelines…)
- it doesn’t respect privacy laws, for example in lots of European countries
- the packaged translation files for most languages are from .org community GlotPress and totally mixed up/not moderated and therefore not useable as lots of the modules regarding frontend or backend stuff for editors…
- it had critical bugs with most of it’s major versions (though they got fixed superfast!)
- it brings overhaul to the WP install where most users may only need one or two modules of it…
All in all: never use it! Show Automattic that this is the wrong way of doing a plugin. I don’t want them to overtake my WP install…
P.S. Akismet plugin has the same phoning home/privacy issues and should not be used in some countries for legal reasons!
I used it for a while and like many it was just too big and tried to accomplish too many unrelated tasks. I like all-in-one plugins when they’re features are related but have little use for them otherwise.
Not sure what the problem is here? If don’t want to use Jetpack you don’t need to install it. Jetpack does not come pre-installed with WordPress and if it does for you it’s because of a commercial relationship with the hosting company.
Many users install WP through their CPanel and many hosts include it. I’d agree with the Author that I delete if (if it was installed) and also Hello Dolly. Typically I install WP from scratch so no, it’s not a big deal. So many things “phone home” these days its hard to keep track. Fire up a network sniffer sometime at home and you’ll want to just shut off your internet connection :-)
My two cents, only use a plugin if you really need the feature. Trying to accomplish too many things with one just mean greater potential for problems if that plugin stops working for some reason. Don’t put too many eggs in one basket.
Well said Dean! I like how the stats show up on the tool bar, other than that jetpack doesn’t cut it for me, thus it remains no longer on my installs!
Jetpack is awesome! One of the pains of switching from WordPress.com to a WordPress.org installation is the loss of all of the cool features.
I think that Jetpack is a dangerous thing. I removed it and went back to plugins like wassup.
Among all the issues. The social network sharing buttons had a problem with googlebot, i discovered that after installing this jetpack feature googlebot added a parameter at the end of all my links like ?share=XXXXX
It never happened with another similar WP plugin.
Also, i discovered Jetpack stats were not accurate. I installed Wassup and Jetpack and could never reconcile Wassup Data and Jetpack data. Jetpack over estimates the number of visitors and people who click on one your website link.
I think it multiplied by 2 the number of outcoming clicks. I know it cause i have affiliate links and checked in various affiliate accounts.
I don’t trust jetpack anymore and add no benefits from it.
Can’t stand Jetpack. The majority of its features are completely useless to nearly everyone (Pretty Math, really?) It’s like all that shit that used to come on new HP computers – a lot of bloat with no real purpose other than to tie you to wordpress.com