Autoptimize stores its configuration in wp_options under keys like autoptimize_css_exclude, autoptimize_js_exclude, autoptimize_optimize_logged, and autoptimize_html_keepcomments. The actual optimized cache files live on disk under wp-content/cache/autoptimize/ and are indexed by hash. The default Autoptimize Settings screen exposes a Save Aggregated Script/CSS toggle, a list of exclusions in a free-text field, and a Delete Cache button. That UI works for a fresh install and becomes hard to audit on a large site with hundreds of plugin-supplied scripts and custom snippets.

SleekView Kanban reads the same Autoptimize options the Settings screen writes and indexes the cache directory under wp-content/cache/autoptimize/ for the optimized output files. Pick a derived autoptimize_state field that buckets each handle by whether it appears in the exclude list, whether it is included in any cached aggregate, and whether the optimized file is fresh on disk and every asset becomes a card grouped under Unoptimized, Combining, Optimized, or Excluded. Card fronts can show the handle, the asset URL, the size, and the cache hash.

Dragging a card between columns updates the Autoptimize exclude options through the plugin's helper. A move from Optimized to Excluded appends the handle to autoptimize_css_exclude or autoptimize_js_exclude as appropriate and clears the matching cache file. A move from Excluded back to Unoptimized removes the handle from the exclude list so the next page render includes it in the aggregate again. Autoptimize's own cache rebuild keeps running normally on the next request.

Autoptimize is one of the most popular asset optimization plugins, and its admin is intentionally minimal. The Settings screen shows a couple of toggles and a long free-text field for exclusions. That UI works on a small site and stops working the moment a team is auditing hundreds of handles across dozens of plugins.

The exclude list becomes a permanent record of decisions nobody documented and nobody revisits. A regression six months later forces a global Delete Cache and the team waits to see whether the next page render breaks anything. A kanban view that reads and writes the same Autoptimize options as the Settings screen turns the audit into a workflow.

Excluded handles carry context. Unoptimized handles surface during the next audit. The exclude list stops growing forever and the cache purges happen for specific aggregates instead of the whole directory at once.