MainWP 11th Anniversary: A Year of Growth and Innovation

We’re thrilled to celebrate 11 years of empowering WordPress professionals! Since our launch on WordPress.org, MainWP has transformed how thousands of agencies and developers manage multiple WordPress sites. 

While the plugin may be 11 years old, it has been refactored multiple times to stay modern and performant. With this anniversary release, we continue that tradition with exciting updates, new features, and a significant shift in how we organize MainWP’s powerful tools.

Extensions Are Now Add-ons: More Clarity, Same Power

If you’ve been with us for a while, one of the first changes you’ll notice is that Extensions are now called Add-ons!

For years, we referred to everything as an Extension, but as MainWP has evolved, so has the way users customize it. To make things clearer, we’ve introduced Add-ons as the new umbrella term for all tools that enhance your MainWP Dashboard.

There are now two distinct types of Add-ons:

Integrations: Connect MainWP with third-party tools, bringing their power directly into your Dashboard. These add-ons create bridges between your MainWP system and the external services and plugins you already use.

Extensions: Purpose-built features that expand your Dashboard’s functionality without relying on external services. These are the specialized tools we’ve built to solve specific WordPress management challenges.

Why the change? We want MainWP to remain flexible, customizable, and user-friendly. Whether you manage dozens or thousands of sites, this new organization helps you find exactly the right tools for your workflow without the limitations that come with SaaS platforms.

Examples of the New Add-on Categories:

✅ Extensions: Bulk Settings Manager, Code Snippets, Pro Reports, White Label
✅ Integrations: WooCommerce Shortcuts, Domain Monitor, UpdraftPlus

Take some time to explore the new Add-ons section and build the perfect workflow for your business!

Introducing Regression Testing for MainWP

Keeping track of changes across multiple WordPress sites just got easier with our newest Extension – MainWP Regression Testing!

Unlike visual regression tools that rely on unreliable pixel comparisons, this powerful new add-on monitors real code changes in your site’s rendered HTML and inline CSS/JavaScript. It helps you detect unexpected modifications that could impact functionality, SEO, or security.

🔹 Key Features:

✅ Automated scans that track code changes after updates
✅ Easily review changes in your MainWP Dashboard
✅ Full data privacy: everything happens on your server with no reliance on external services

MainWP Regression Testing is available now for all Pro users! Read more in this blog post!

The Favorites Add-on Has Been Completely Rewritten!

For those of you who use Favorites regularly, you’ll love this update. The MainWP Favorites Add-on has been fully rebuilt for a smoother, more efficient experience. Instead of manually uploading ZIP files and tracking updates yourself, you can now simply add the direct download URL of a plugin or theme, ensuring you always have the latest version.

New Features in Favorites Add-on:

✅ Organize favorites into custom groups (e.g., Performance Plugins, Administrative Tools)
✅ Automatically keep your favorite plugins up to date with direct download URLs
✅ Prefer the old method? No problem! You can still upload ZIP files manually 😊

MainWP Favorites Add-on is available now for all Pro users!

The MainWP API Client – Build Custom Integrations Faster

For developers and agencies looking to integrate MainWP with other tools, we’ve introduced the MainWP API Wrapper!

What Is It? Instead of dealing with raw API requests, authentication, and response handling, our API wrapper does the heavy lifting for you. You can securely interact with your MainWP dashboard API with just a few lines of code.

Who Benefits?

✅ Developers: Skip the tedious setup and jump straight into building custom integrations.
✅ Agencies & Power Users: Automate routine tasks, connect MainWP with CRMs, or build custom reporting dashboards.

Key Benefits:

✅ Faster Development: No need for raw API calls; use simple functions.
✅ Cleaner Code: A structured, easy-to-use library.
✅ Secure & Reliable: Handles authentication efficiently.
✅ Custom Integrations Made Easy: Connect MainWP with other platforms, CRMs, or reporting tools.

Check out the MainWP API Client on GitHub: MainWP API Client

Major Dashboard Improvements: More Customization, Less Clutter

We’ve been listening to your feedback and have made several enhancements to improve flexibility, usability, and efficiency across the MainWP Dashboard experience.

Enhanced Drag & Drop Customization

We upgraded the drag-and-drop functionality and widget resizing to be more responsive than ever, making it easier to create a layout that fits your specific workflow needs.

🗒️ Tech note for developers: We’ve switched from Gridster.js to Gridstack.js for better performance and reliability.

Save & Load Custom Layouts

Now, you can save and load different dashboard layouts tailored to your workflow!

✅ Need a minimal dashboard for mobile? Save a “Mobile Layout.”
✅ Want full management controls on desktop? Load your “Desktop Layout.”

This ensures you always have the right information available where and when you need it.

Cleaner Sites & Clients Table Views

Many of you felt overwhelmed by too much information in the Sites and Clients tables, so we’ve reduced the default columns shown on first install.

💡 Tip! Do you want more details in your view? Click the Page Settings button in the header to customize your view.

Smarter Navigation & Profile Menu Updates

✅ Settings, System Info, and More: Now found under your profile icon in the top-right corner.
✅ Dashboard Update Available Warning: Now positioned above the version number in the left-hand menu for better visibility.

Our Journey Together

When we started MainWP, we wanted to make a private WordPress manager for our affiliate business but over the years our mission has changed and now we focus on giving WordPress professionals complete control over their sites while remaining privacy focused.

Eleven years and over 700,000 active installations later, that mission remains our guiding star. We’ve weathered major WordPress changes, adapted to evolving security challenges, and continuously refined our tools based on your feedback.

I still remember the excitement of our first 1,000 users and am humbled by how our community has grown. Some of you have been with us since day one, and your ongoing support and suggestions have shaped every aspect of MainWP.

What’s Next?

Over the last 11 years, we’ve continuously improved MainWP based on your feedback and will keep doing that! If you have ideas for new features or improvements, we want to hear from you!

Submit and vote on feature requests at voice.mainwp.com. Your feedback is documented, trackable, and visible to others who can vote, helping us prioritize updates that matter most to you.

Your input shapes the future of MainWP, and we appreciate every suggestion.

Ready to Experience These Powerful Updates?

Take these three steps today:

1. Update your MainWP Dashboard to version 5.4 ➡️ Update Now
2. Explore the reorganized Add-ons section and try Regression Testing
3. Share your experience with our new features in the MainWP Community

Current users: These updates are now available on your dashboard!

New to MainWP? Get Started for Free and discover why thousands of WordPress professionals trust us with their site management.

Thank you for being part of our journey for the past 11 years, we wouldn’t be here without you! 😊

Dennis