I’m excited to share a handy WordPress plugin that solves a problem many of us have experienced: forgetting to turn off search engine indexing when launching a site!
This plugin was originally built by my daughter Jaz, who recognized how easy it is to miss that crucial “Discourage search engines from indexing this site” checkbox in WordPress. The solution? Make it impossible to miss by turning the entire admin a bright color when indexing is disabled.
I’ve since enhanced the plugin with the help of Claude AI, adding features like:
- Default color is RebeccaPurple.
- Customizable alert colors (choose your own background and text colors)
- A clickable “Search indexing off” notice in the admin bar
- Color settings are integrated directly into the Reading Settings page
The plugin is lightweight, requires zero configuration (just activate and go), and only appears when indexing is actually disabled. Perfect for developers managing multiple sites or anyone who wants to avoid SEO disasters!
