Lost some luster

This plugin used to be an automatic addition to our client’s sites. It’s still good for managing SEO meta, but thanks to recent updates it’s lost half of its usefulness.

Excluding pages from the XML sitemap used to be able to be done on the pages themselves with a simple checkbox. Now you have to hunt down each page ID and enter them in a central plugin page instead. Very much less convenient.

The more flagrant change however was the unceremonial and dickish way they dropped 301 redirects from the plugin entirely with no warning. Just gone. To get it back you have to buy the Pro version. I’m all for them getting paid for their work and they tell you the feature is improved, but to just drop it like they did smacks of bait and switch. It really leaves a bad taste in your mouth, and it lost them some respect as a product.

These lost features are just useful enough to be desirable but not enough to push you over into paying $89 for Pro. I want to be enticed into upgrading, not annoyed into it.

It’s still rather good for SEO management, but it’s no longer untouchable. If I’m already going to be handling more things manually or through a different plugin than before, I’ll also be keeping my eye out for a better SEO solution as well.