Must-Use Plugins

I have some eight so-called must-use plugins in my WordPress install’s mu-plugins folder.

Must-use plugins are (most often) simple PHP files that WordPress includes always, and work a lot like plugins except that you don’t need to (de)activate them, and you don’t need a plugin header and so on.

I use them as an alternative to functions.php (which is where most online guides still tell people to add custom bits of PHP).

The latest addition? A tiny file called reader.php. In it? The following—nothing more, nothing less:

<?php

add_filter( 'feed_reader_post_status', function() {
  return 'publish';
} );

This lets me publish likes, bookmarks, and replies from my feed reader.

No need to mess with my theme—tweaks like this one aren’t exactly “theme territory,” either—and next time I need to update something, I’ll know exactly where to look!