The more popular a plugin is, the more options it seems to have. This goes for themes too. Managing options is apparently brain-dead simple, using add_option() and friends.

However, when you find a plugin specifically wrote for cleaning up the Windows registry WordPress options table, you know it’s not all rainbows and unicorns.

People often complain that their options table is filled with cruft from previously installed plugins. How can this happen? The main reason is that those lazy developers are too distracted to take out the trash when you’re done with their plugins.

Because I’m a plugin developer too, ergo hard-working & focused, I wrote a class to help me with this problem. It’s called scbOptions and it’s a part of my little plugin framework.

It takes care of removing the options automatically when the plugin is uninstalled via the WordPress interface. It also encourages and makes it easier to work with consolidated options.

So that takes care of 2 out of the 10 most common mistakes. Do you have any tips for handling options better? Do share.