Plagiarism Checker by SST Issues in WordPress: How It Can Break Gutenberg Editing and How to Fix It

If your WordPress block editor suddenly starts behaving strangely, and basic formatting options like Bold stop working inside Paragraph blocks, the problem may not be your theme, browser, or WordPress core at all. In some cases, the real culprit can be a plugin conflict. One such example is plagiarism-checker-by-sst.

In a recent troubleshooting case, the WordPress site looked fine on the public side, but the editing experience inside the admin panel was unreliable. The Bold formatting option would not work properly while editing posts. At first glance, the issue looked like a theme problem. Different themes were tested, browser cache was suspected, and even admin styling problems pointed attention in several directions. But after a proper elimination process, the actual root cause was identified: plagiarism-checker-by-sst.

This post explains what kind of issues this plugin can trigger, how to recognize them, and how to fix them safely.

The Main Symptom

The most visible issue was inside the Gutenberg block editor.

A user would open a post, click into a Paragraph block, select some text, and try to make it bold. Normally, the block toolbar should show formatting controls like Bold and Link, and keyboard shortcuts like Cmd+B or Ctrl+B should work. But in this case, they did not work as expected.

That is an important clue. When the formatting itself fails, it usually means the rich-text layer of the editor is being disrupted. This is very different from a simple visual problem where the toolbar exists but is hidden.

Why This Was Hard to Diagnose

What made the problem confusing was that several other things happened at the same time during troubleshooting.

The admin area had also been affected by a separate issue related to blocked WordPress admin assets. That issue was caused by a security rule in .htaccess which blocked load-styles.php and load-scripts.php, making the admin panel appear unstyled. Once that was fixed, the admin layout returned to normal.

However, the original problem with Bold formatting still remained.

This is a good reminder that WordPress sites can have multiple simultaneous issues, and fixing one problem does not always solve the underlying editor conflict.

How the Real Culprit Was Found

The cleanest way to diagnose editor problems in WordPress is to use elimination testing.

The following steps were taken:

1. Themes were tested

Multiple themes were activated, including default WordPress themes. The public site worked, and the editor issue remained. That ruled out the active theme as the primary cause.

2. Permissions and ownership were checked

File permissions and ownership looked normal, so it was not a server file permission issue.

3. WordPress core was verified

Core checksums were validated successfully. That ruled out a corrupted WordPress installation.

4. All plugins were deactivated

This was the turning point. As soon as all plugins were disabled, the Bold functionality in the editor started working again.

That confirmed the issue was caused by a plugin conflict.

5. Plugins were reactivated in batches

Plugins were re-enabled in groups and then one by one. This narrowed the issue down to a smaller list.

6. The final culprit was identified

Eventually, the plugin plagiarism-checker-by-sst was activated and the problem returned. That confirmed it was the plugin causing the Gutenberg editing issue.

What Kind of Problems a Plugin Like This Can Cause

A plugin like plagiarism-checker-by-sst can interfere with the editor in a few ways.

Admin-wide JavaScript injection

Some plugins load scripts globally across the admin area instead of only on their own settings page. If those scripts modify editor fields, intercept content changes, or attach to text areas too broadly, they can disrupt Gutenberg’s normal behavior.

CSS interference

Even if a plugin is not directly removing Bold or Link options, injected CSS can affect toolbar visibility, button behavior, or selection state inside the editor.

Rich text conflicts

Gutenberg does not work like the old Classic Editor. It relies on a block-based rich-text system. Plugins built with older assumptions about how content fields work can accidentally break formatting, selection handling, or inline toolbar actions.

Unintended compatibility problems

Some plugins are built for a wide range of environments, but they may not behave correctly with all combinations of:

• WordPress version
• active theme
• other editor-related plugins
• security plugins
• browser/editor state

So even if a plugin works on one site, it may still cause issues on another.

Signs That Plagiarism Checker by SST May Be the Problem

You should suspect this plugin if you see one or more of the following:

• Bold does not work in Gutenberg
• selecting text does not show expected inline formatting behavior
• keyboard shortcut for Bold does nothing
• the problem disappears when plugins are disabled
• the problem comes back when plagiarism-checker-by-sst is reactivated
• themes do not make any difference

If that pattern matches your site, there is a strong chance the plugin is interfering with the block editor.

The Immediate Fix

The quickest solution is simple:

Deactivate the plugin.

Once plagiarism-checker-by-sst is disabled, test the editor again on a brand new post. Add a Paragraph block, type some text, select a word, and try Bold. If it works again, your diagnosis is confirmed.

For many site owners, that may already be enough. If the plugin is not essential to day-to-day publishing, keeping it disabled is the safest route.

If You Still Want to Use the Plugin

If you must keep the plugin, then the right approach is to patch or limit where it loads.

A plugin like this should ideally:

• load scripts only on its own settings page
• avoid injecting JS/CSS across all admin screens
• avoid touching Gutenberg editor controls unless absolutely necessary
• be tested specifically with block editor workflows

A developer can inspect the plugin code for hooks such as:

• admin_enqueue_scripts
• wp_enqueue_script
• wp_enqueue_style

If the plugin is loading assets on every admin screen, that behavior should be restricted. In many cases, the fix is to only load the plugin’s admin assets when the current screen belongs to that plugin.

Best Practice for Debugging Similar WordPress Issues

This case also highlights a broader troubleshooting lesson.

When WordPress editor problems happen, do not assume the cause too quickly. A structured process saves time:

1. Test with a new post
2. Test with a default theme
3. Disable all plugins
4. Reactivate plugins one by one
5. Use browser console and network tools if needed
6. Check .htaccess and admin asset loading only if the admin UI itself looks broken

This process helps separate:

• theme issues
• plugin issues
• server issues
• browser issues
• admin asset issues

Without that process, it is easy to waste hours chasing the wrong cause.

Final Thoughts

The plagiarism-checker-by-sst plugin may work fine in some environments, but in other WordPress setups it can interfere with Gutenberg and break core editing features like Bold formatting. The issue can be subtle, frustrating, and easy to misdiagnose, especially when other admin-related problems are happening at the same time.

The good news is that once you isolate the conflict properly, the fix becomes straightforward.

If your WordPress editor behaves oddly and formatting controls stop working, do not blame the theme immediately. A plugin conflict is often the real cause, and in this case, plagiarism-checker-by-sst turned out to be exactly that.

If you want, I can also turn this into a more polished SEO blog version with a stronger title, meta description, FAQ section, and conclusion for publishing on your site.