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You are here: Home / Blogging / WordPress Social Media Widget Plugin Spam Problems

WordPress Social Media Widget Plugin Spam Problems

April 10, 2013 by Jan Kearney

Sucuri reported on their blog yesterday that the WordPress Social Media Widget plugin is injecting payday loan spam into websites.  It is recommended that you remove the plugin from your WordPress site.

How to Remove The Social Media Widget Plugin

Apologies for the poor sound, I still have not replaced my Muppet chewed headset!  Written instructions are below the video.

To save time later, if you do not have a record of your social links then copy them into a notepad file or spreadsheet now.

  1. Click on Appearance > Widgets on the left menu in your WordPress dashboard
  2. On the right side, locate where you have the Social Media Widget placed and open the widget
  3. Scroll through each section and copy your social URLs onto a notepad file

Once you have all your data saved, now you can delete the plugin.

  1. Click on Plugins in the left menu of your WordPress dashboard
  2. Scroll down to the Social Media Widget and click deactivate
  3. Once the plugin has been deactivated, scroll down again and click delete
  4. Click the “yes, delete these files” button

Social Media Widget Alternatives

There are many social plugins available.  To save searching, I’ve listed 3 here:

Social Profiles Widget

Follow Me Plugin

Social Share Toolkit (adds share buttons as well as follow buttons)

Over to you…

Do you use the Social Media Widget plugin?  What plugin will you replace it with?

Update:  The issues with this plugin have been resolved and once again it is available via your WordPress dashboard or http://wordpress.org/support/plugin/social-media-widget

WordPress Social Media Widget Plugin Spam Problems by Jan Kearney

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Filed Under: Blogging Tagged With: How To Guides, plugins, WordPress

About Jan Kearney

I believe that every business, no matter how small or how local can use the power of the web to gain more customers. I offer no bull coaching and mentoring so small business owners can strategically put the web to work for their business. I've been called a "compass" and a "navigator" and probably a few more names that aren't suitable for a profile!
Connect with me on Google+, Facebook, Pinterest

Comments

  1. Jen Bajackson, LGPC says

    April 10, 2013 at 12:22 pm

    Thanks for the information. I appreciate you looking out for us.

    Jen

    • Jan Kearney says

      April 10, 2013 at 3:49 pm

      Hi Jen, you’re welcome – thanks for popping in 🙂

  2. Bonnie Gean says

    April 10, 2013 at 12:51 pm

    It’s bad enough we have to worry about viruses through email, now we have to watch out for plugins in WordPress?

    Don’t people have anything better to do with their time?

    Thanks for watching out for us Mum! 🙂

    • Jan Kearney says

      April 10, 2013 at 3:49 pm

      Need to keep on our toes, Bonnie!

    • Amanda says

      April 11, 2013 at 6:05 am

      If it makes you feel any better, we have to stay on our toes with any blogging platform/cms, but especially the ones that are extendable.

      • Jan Kearney says

        April 11, 2013 at 8:03 am

        That’s true, Amanda – thanks for popping in 🙂

  3. Joy Healey says

    April 10, 2013 at 1:12 pm

    Thanks for the warning.

    I found that my theme already had a widget to do this so I saved a plugin!

    Joy

    • Jan Kearney says

      April 10, 2013 at 3:50 pm

      Some themes do have social following built in – it’s great you saved a search for a new plugin!

  4. Shawn says

    April 10, 2013 at 1:15 pm

    It seems everyday there are issues with spammers, hackers, and the like. I’m thankful for people out there who keep us updated and one foot in front of the bad guys.

    • Jan Kearney says

      April 10, 2013 at 4:02 pm

      Glad it was useful for you Shawn – thanks for popping in 🙂

  5. Toni Nelson says

    April 10, 2013 at 4:59 pm

    I’m gad I’m not using this plugin! Thanks for bringing this information to everyone’s attention.

    • Jan Kearney says

      April 11, 2013 at 8:11 am

      It was a great plugin and until now really stable. I hope the developers get this mess sorted! Thanks for popping in Toni 🙂

  6. Angela McCall says

    April 11, 2013 at 6:45 am

    Hi Jan,

    Found you on Joy Healey’s post. So I thought I’d follow your link. I’m glad I don’t have “Social Media Widget.” Whatever that means. I don’t even know what that’s for. So I must be okay, right?

    Anyway, hope you have a great weekend.

    Angela

    • Jan Kearney says

      April 11, 2013 at 8:13 am

      Welcome Angela! Social Media Widget is a social plugin for WordPress. I just popped over to your site and it’s not there – so yes, you’re ok 🙂
      Thanks for popping in, I look forward to seeing you again!

Meet Jan Kearney

I believe that every business, no matter how small or how local can use the power of the web to gain more customers. I offer no bull coaching and mentoring so small business owners can strategically put the web to work for their business. I've been called a "compass" and a "navigator" and probably a few more names that aren't suitable for a profile!
Connect with me on Google+, Facebook, Pinterest or Discover More About My Local Business Online…

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