Title: Plugin kills performance
Last modified: December 7, 2023

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# Plugin kills performance

 *  Resolved [Alexander Guskov](https://wordpress.org/support/users/forcesail/)
 * (@forcesail)
 * [2 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-kills-performance/)
 * Hello,
 * investigating the loosing of performance of my site I fond that some plugins 
   are using this plugin inside to work around the normal wp-cron system. So, every
   minute wp_cron execute task to activate this workaroud system to bereave all 
   available memory and processor resource from good actions to do nothing useful.(
   I have been never using woocomerce). 
   So, it’s acting as a malware.I found that
   since I stopped it’s everyminute task in wp_cron system the performance of my
   site increased in times !!! and google, yandex and others moved my site from 
   red to green performance rating.So, during the years this hidden plugin kept 
   my site extremely slow but very busy.But now I see notification of “Action Scheduler”
   all the time on all admin screens. It annoying but even more, it means that it’s
   still alive and keeps trying to slow down the site.
 * How can I clean this malware out or at lease stop it completely?

Viewing 10 replies - 1 through 10 (of 10 total)

 *  Plugin Support [Chris Moreira – a11n](https://wordpress.org/support/users/chrism245/)
 * (@chrism245)
 * [2 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-kills-performance/#post-17269409)
 * Hello there,
 * Could you share a copy of your site’s System Status Report with us?
 * 
   You’ll find it at the top of the page under **WooCommerce > Status > Get system
   report > Download for support (after you scroll down a bit)**. Once you have 
   the System Status Report file, please attach it to your reply.
 * Also, can you provide a screenshot of this error? You can paste it here, [https://snipboard.io/](https://snipboard.io/),
   then send me the URL it provides so I can view the screenshot.
 *  Thread Starter [Alexander Guskov](https://wordpress.org/support/users/forcesail/)
 * (@forcesail)
 * [2 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-kills-performance/#post-17270979)
 * Hello Chris,
 * I’d be happy to provide requested information but **I never have been having 
   WooCommerce installed**. So, I made some screenshorts to explain what do I menture:
    1. **[https://snipboard.io/IWafQC.jpg](https://snipboard.io/IWafQC.jpg)** the list
       of the hidden by your plugin actions. How I noticed, the scheduled data doesn’t
       mean a lot because it changes dynamically. Even more, I uninstalled all plugins
       that use Scheduled Action malware software except ALL-IN-ONCE-SEO that I have
       been using more than 10 years but this list hasn’t changed.
    2.  **[https://snipboard.io/s3jWlx.jpg](https://snipboard.io/s3jWlx.jpg)** – wp_cron
       events. Awfully, this task in unkillable: I tried to remove it but it returns.
       So, only way to flee is to change period. When I changed from “every minute”
       to “once a month” **“server response time” for pages of my site changed from
       7-8s to 1s **
    3. **[https://snipboard.io/0qB7PN.jpg](https://snipboard.io/0qB7PN.jpg)** – this
       is piece of code that execute every minute. So, it’s clear that It doesn’t dive
       a chance for site to do it’s job.
 * Scheduled Action works as malware: hidden from site owner, uncontrollable (the
   schedule page is not accessible from menu, I found it by chance), unstopped, 
   doing something that not announced by plugin author.
 * I’m sorry for the expression the emotion but this hidden functionality had been
   slowing down my site for years until I found this malware by change and costed
   my full lost of any positions in google/yandex search results and lost of the
   customers.
 * I believe that such software as Scheduled Actions goes against moral and community
   trust and call crime questions.
 * Can I provide some other information for you?
 *  Plugin Support [B C. a11n](https://wordpress.org/support/users/battouly/)
 * (@battouly)
 * [2 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-kills-performance/#post-17275509)
 * Hello [@forcesail](https://wordpress.org/support/users/forcesail/),
 * Thank you for providing the screenshots and information.
 * From the screenshots you shared, I see some scheduled actions are running correctly.
   Other failed actions are due to scheduled tasks not being properly registered
   in the system.
 * To address this issue, I recommend taking the following steps:
 * 1. Make sure your plugins are up-to-date and Review the list of scheduled actions:
   The screenshot you provided shows a list of scheduled actions performed by different
   plugins. It’s important to identify which plugins are responsible for these actions.
   You mentioned that you have uninstalled all plugins except for ALL-IN-ONE-SEO.
   If you notice that some of the uninstalled plugins left behind scheduled actions,
   I recommend reaching out to the developers of the uninstalled plugins and seek
   their assistance in removing any residual actions.
 * 2. Optimize your website’s performance: If you’re experiencing slow server response
   times, there might be other factors contributing to it as well. I suggest optimizing
   your website by using caching plugins, optimizing images, and using a performance
   optimization tool like the one provided by [Jetpack](https://woocommerce.com/products/jetpack/).
   These steps can help improve your site’s speed and overall performance.
 * 3. Consider seeking professional assistance: If you’re still experiencing performance
   issues after optimizing your website, it might be helpful to consult with a professional
   developer who specializes in WordPress performance optimization. They can provide
   tailored guidance and solutions based on your specific setup and requirements.
 * Regarding your concerns about the hidden functionality of Scheduled Actions, 
   I understand your frustration. WordPress plugins are designed to provide features
   and functions that help enhance your website’s functionality. However, if you
   believe that certain actions are behaving in a way that goes against the intended
   functionality, I recommend reaching out to the plugin authors using the feature
   directly to express your concerns and seek their guidance.
 * I hope this helps improve your site performance. 
 *  Thread Starter [Alexander Guskov](https://wordpress.org/support/users/forcesail/)
 * (@forcesail)
 * [2 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-kills-performance/#post-17275576)
 * Hi B.C.
 * it seems that you joking: I asked how to remove Scheduled Actions plugin that
   acts behind the curtain or stop it’s cron task, that recreates again by itself,
   when I remove it but you reply that your malware plugin is running correctly 
   squeezing all resources from useful processes. The experiment with changing Scheduled
   Actions cron period showed that it’s the cause.
   I just don’t want it’s running
   on my site at all! How to uninstall it?
 * You advice me to ask plugin’s developers that use Scheduled actions to ask how
   to clean out after them using Jetpack, but it was Jetpack’s plugins that I uninstalled
   because they brought this malware! Never ever any Jetpack’s plugins anymore!
 * The only issue that breaks productivity of the site is Scheduled Actions, sorry,
   but I understand the subject, but you refuse to share the information hoe to 
   stop the unwashed activity of your plugin.
 * Are you kidding me?
 *  Plugin Support [B C. a11n](https://wordpress.org/support/users/battouly/)
 * (@battouly)
 * [2 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-kills-performance/#post-17275851)
 * Hey Alexander,
 * Apologies if there was any misunderstanding. You mentioned earlier that:
 * > investigating the loosing of performance of my site I fond that some plugins
   > are using this plugin inside to work around the normal wp-cron system. 
 * That is why I suggested reaching out to those plugins developers. 
 * If you have already removed the Scheduled Actions plugin, it is not expected 
   for the cron tasks to recreate. 
 * Did you contact your host for this to know how they are running the server side
   cron jobs and if they have any clue on how to stop any actions from the removed
   plugin?
 *  Thread Starter [Alexander Guskov](https://wordpress.org/support/users/forcesail/)
 * (@forcesail)
 * [2 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-kills-performance/#post-17283718)
 * Hello B C,
 * thank you for the nice conversation where you pretend that don’t understand me
   and answer on other questions grounding on the common words. Google search and
   AI actually are acting this way.
 * Another thanks for your confirmation that Scheduled Action is a malware soft.
 *  Plugin Support [B C. a11n](https://wordpress.org/support/users/battouly/)
 * (@battouly)
 * [2 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-kills-performance/#post-17289053)
 * Hey Alexander,
 * That wasn’t the intention. I will still investigate this further with the developers
   and circle back to you if I have any information to share that may help you.
 * If you have any details from your host or things you tried that may help understand
   the issue more, do not hesitate to share.
 * Thanks!
 *  Plugin Contributor [Barry](https://wordpress.org/support/users/barryhughes-1/)
 * (@barryhughes-1)
 * [2 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-kills-performance/#post-17295292)
 * It sounds like you’ve had a frustrating experience, [@forcesail](https://wordpress.org/support/users/forcesail/)—
   I’m sorry about that. I’d like to address some of the points you’ve raised, though.
 * > Another thanks for your confirmation that Scheduled Action is a malware soft.
 * In no way is Action Scheduler malware.
 * Few pieces of software are perfect, and I accept Action Scheduler has its bugs
   and imperfections but, crucially, it does not seek to do any harm—and we definitely
   would not stand by if we found it was inadvertently taking down everyone’s websites.
 * It’s simply a library that exists to help plugin authors work efficiently, and
   process workloads asynchronously.
 * > I found that some plugins are using this plugin inside to work around the normal
   > wp-cron system.
 * It’s not really in competition with WP Cron (in some respects it builds on top
   of WP Cron), and isn’t a ‘workaround’: it just offers a different pathway for
   processing work outside of regular web requests.
 * > Hidden from site owner, uncontrollable (the schedule page is not accessible
   > from menu, I found it by chance)
 * I don’t quite understand this feedback. It provides an admin screen, accessible
   to admin-level users via **Tools ▸** **Scheduled Actions**. Some plugins may 
   choose to hide or remove that screen, and perhaps that is behind the problem 
   in your case, but that is out of our control.
 * > Even more, I uninstalled all plugins that use Scheduled Action malware software
   > except ALL-IN-ONCE-SEO that I have been using more than 10 years but this list
   > hasn’t changed.
 * Your screenshot shows the sitemap scan task takes quite a long time to complete.
   Here is the thing: Action Scheduler, by itself, comes with a very low overhead
   indeed.
 * The real work are the scheduled actions that various plugins add … and, again,
   we have no control over that: if a plugin author introduces an exceptionally 
   long-running and resource-intensive task, that is up to them. They could easily
   do the same thing through WP Cron or some other conduit.
 * We don’t generally recommend they do this, but Action Scheduler is simply a pipeline
   through which work is processed. If the only plugin you have retained (that uses
   Action Scheduler) is AI1SEO and the problems stem from the workloads they are
   trying to process, it’s really best to speak to them for guidance and support.
 *  Thread Starter [Alexander Guskov](https://wordpress.org/support/users/forcesail/)
 * (@forcesail)
 * [2 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-kills-performance/#post-17298949)
 * Hi Barry,
 * Thanks for your understanding of the level of my frustratingness being out of
   google/yandex seararching ranks for years thanks to Action Scheduler.
 * I agree that few pieces of software are perfect but it’s slowing down software
   by itself.
 * > In no way is Action Scheduler malware.
 * There are 5 marks of malware:
   1) doing some acting other than announced2) acting
   regular without user’s clear wish to start a process3) acting hidden4) the activity
   is unavoidable5) It’s imposible to stop/kill malware process without destroying
   the system
 * You are great! Schedulled Actions satisfy all these criterias.
 * > t’s not really in competition with WP Cron (in some respects it builds on top
   > of WP Cron), and isn’t a ‘workaround’: it just offers a different pathway for
   > processing work outside of regular web requests.
 * Yes, it’s not a competition with WP-CRON – Action Scheduler acts inside of one
   of the WP-CRON’s tasks. So, THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE FOR NORMAl PLUGINS To USE 
   WP-CRON dirrectly OR INDIRRECTLY THROUGH Action Scheduler BUT IT”s HIDDEN FUNCTIONALITY
   ONLY.
 * >  It provides an admin screen, accessible to admin-level users via **Tools ▸****
   > Scheduled Actions**. Some plugins may choose to hide or remove that screen,
   > and perhaps that is behind the problem in your case, but that is out of our
   > control.
 * Yes, Action Scheduler provides admin screen with actions list BUT nor with ALL-
   IN-ONE-SEO neither with WPSCAN (it’s your plugin it’s it?) it’s menu item under**
   Tools**. Probably because te only place where you call add_submenu_page() is 
   a class named “depreciated”, but I haven’t investigated it carefully. I declare
   only the FACT: THERE IS NO MENU ITEM FOR Action Scheduler.
 * So, FACTS:
   1) Action Scheduler allocate all memory every minute cutting off other
   processes from memory rather has it tasks or not. If site is not as powerful 
   as Amazon it slow down reacting on requests. If site requested in times less 
   than once a minute the Scheduled Actions accumulates for this period and execute
   all.2) Action Scheduler acting as wp_cron task and looks after this task the 
   way if to delay this task it revive by it self. This is clear malware behavior.
   3) if to remove actions of Action Scheduler they revive. Again, this is clear
   malware behavior.4) if to clear out Action Scheduler from a plugin the WP core
   error appears. It’s probably the only way to shift off Action Scheduler is to
   uninstall the plugin that brought it, but I didn’t try it, so I’m not sure that
   it works. Again, this is clear malware behavior.
 * So, I declare that Action Scheduler do nothing that can’t be done by standard
   WP-core tools except that it slow down sites and execute actions hidden. So, 
   it’s clear malware.
 *  Plugin Support [Saravanan S, a11n](https://wordpress.org/support/users/simplysaru/)
 * (@simplysaru)
 * [2 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-kills-performance/#post-17305643)
 * Hi [@forcesail](https://wordpress.org/support/users/forcesail/),
 * > Yes, Action Scheduler provides admin screen with actions list BUT nor with 
   > ALL-IN-ONE-SEO neither with WPSCAN (it’s your plugin it’s it?) it’s menu item
   > under Tools. Probably because te only place where you call add_submenu_page()
   > is a class named “depreciated”, but I haven’t investigated it carefully. I 
   > declare only the FACT: THERE IS NO MENU ITEM FOR Action Scheduler.
 * Please work with the respective plugin authors for these options. We don’t make
   either of the mentioned plugins. Please feel free to investigate this carefully.
   **
   Unlike Malware**, the entire plugin **is open source** and is developed in the
   open and the entire code can be reviewed [here](https://github.com/woocommerce/action-scheduler/),
   and the plugin is documented [here](https://actionscheduler.org/).

Viewing 10 replies - 1 through 10 (of 10 total)

The topic ‘Plugin kills performance’ is closed to new replies.

 * ![](https://s.w.org/plugins/geopattern-icon/action-scheduler.svg)
 * [Action Scheduler](https://wordpress.org/plugins/action-scheduler/)
 * [Support Threads](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/action-scheduler/)
 * [Active Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/action-scheduler/active/)
 * [Unresolved Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/action-scheduler/unresolved/)
 * [Reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/action-scheduler/reviews/)

 * 10 replies
 * 5 participants
 * Last reply from: [Saravanan S, a11n](https://wordpress.org/support/users/simplysaru/)
 * Last activity: [2 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-kills-performance/#post-17305643)
 * Status: resolved