Hi @michaelwp85 ,
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback.
I’m really sorry to hear that the plugin doesn’t feel as simple as it used to. I completely understand where you’re coming from — the rebranding to CF7 Apps brought in quite a few changes.
Just to give you some context:
We added features like hCAPTCHA support, an entries database, and a redirection app to offer more flexibility and value for users with different needs.
We understand these updates may have shifted the experience from the simple setup you originally liked. If you’d prefer a cleaner setup, you can:
- Disable menu items you don’t use.
- Keep only the modules you need (like Honeypot alone).
You can find more details in our documentation here:
Documentation link
We’d love to hear more about which specific banners, notifications, or menus feel unnecessary to you — your input helps us refine the plugin for everyone.
You can also view our roadmap and share suggestions here:
Roadmap
We’d really appreciate it if you could consider revisiting your review — your honest feedback truly helps us grow.
Thank you again for being part of the journey.
Best regards,
Muhammad Usama Azad
WP Experts Support Team
Thread Starter
Michael
(@michaelwp85)
Hi Muhammad,
To give you a bit more context. We use the honeypot plugin in a custom-styled WP “framework” in a centralised setup. We do not provide our users admin access; we try to minimise what they see and have to deal with, allowing them to focus on what matters, managing their content. So your latest update ended up giving 400+ sites a plain-text honeypot tag because an opt-in flow was presented in the admin screens (breaking the original purpose of this plugin). We do not expect our customers to have to deal with this. So something you might see as a simple single click ends up being an impactful change for us. I ended up reverting to a previous version and will completely remove this plugin asap.
Imo, you should have moved to a new plugin and abandoned this one instead.
Hi @michaelwp85 ,
I hope you’re doing well.
Thank you for sharing the full context — it really helps us understand how this update impacted your setup.
We definitely want to get this sorted for you. Could you please confirm which version you rolled back to? Once we have that info, we’ll investigate the issue and prioritize a fix. We totally understand how challenging it is to manage rollbacks across 400+ sites, and we truly appreciate you bringing this to our attention.
Looking forward to your response.
Best regards,
Muhammad Usama Azad
WP Experts Support Team
Thread Starter
Michael
(@michaelwp85)
Hi Muhammad,
The rollback was to version 3.0.0.
Luckily, a rollback is just a composer install and a release pipeline for us, but it’s not instant of course, so in the meantime customers are calling or emailing reporting issues.
While I appreciate you taking the time to reply, with all the UI changes and added features I won’t be using, I will write my own honeypot implementation instead.
Hi @michaelwp85 ,
Thank for your response. We understand your frustration. While we’re unable to revert the recent feature changes—which are being used by many of our users—we are committed to addressing your specific issue. Rest assured, we will investigate and work to get it resolved for you.
Best regards,
Muhammad Usama Azad
WP Experts Support Team
I have to echo and expand upon Michael’s concerns. This plugin has fundamentally shifted from a reliable, transparent tool into an onboarding platform for capabilities I neither need nor want.
The core issue is the proliferation of what I’ll term “Promo-Cruft”: banners, upsells, and notifications that serve the plugin’s business model, not my administrative needs. The ideal plugin does its job effectively and then gets out of the way. This plugin now does the opposite: it inserts itself, demands attention, and, as Michael’s case tragically demonstrates, can even break its own core functionality (the honeypot tag) to force engagement with an opt-in flow.
This isn’t just an aesthetic complaint. For those of us managing sites for clients (especially in environments like non-profits where users are non-technical and administrative clarity is paramount) this trend is toxic. We cannot allow the WordPress admin to become a carnival of upsells and onboarding wizards. It erodes trust, complicates training, and is a primary reason many are considering migrating away from WordPress entirely.
While I respect a developer’s right to evolve their product, you have crossed a critical line: you have removed user agency. Presenting a mandatory migration screen with no option to dismiss, defer, or decline is a fundamental disrespect for the user. A plugin should not hold its own functionality hostage to coerce users into a new ecosystem.
My stance is simple: I will remove any plugin that prioritizes its onboarding and promotion over transparent, reliable operation. Based on this new direction, it appears this plugin now falls into that category. I strongly urge you to reconsider a model that allows users who only want the simple, original honeypot functionality to have it. Without the cruft, without the breakage, and without the loss of choice.