Contents
Installing and updating - Plugixa Activity Log
Getting started covers the first five minutes. This page covers the rest of the plugin’s life on a site: the two downloads, moving between them, updates, removal, and which outside services it ever talks to.
Two downloads, one log
| Free | Pro PRO | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | The complete free plugin | The free plugin plus additional code |
| Database tables | Its own | The same ones, plus a few of its own |
| Settings | Its own | The same ones, plus the Pro tabs |
Pro features are code that exists only in the Pro download. Nothing in the free build is a locked copy of something, and no licence check inside the plugin decides what runs. Which features you have is decided by which download is installed. See Free vs Pro.
Installing
Plugins -> Add New -> Upload Plugin, choose the ZIP, activate. Or unzip into
/wp-content/plugins/ and activate from the Plugins screen.
Activation creates the plugin’s database tables and starts recording. There is nothing to configure first.
After activating you may be shown an opt-in screen from Freemius. Skipping it is fine: nothing in the plugin depends on the answer.
Requirements: WordPress 6.5 or higher, PHP 8.2 or higher.
Moving from Free to Pro
Install the Pro ZIP the same way. It installs beside the free copy, and both read and write the same log, so nothing is lost and nothing has to be exported first.
Only one copy can run. When Pro is activated inside the WordPress admin, the free copy is deactivated for you. Activated another way, from WP-CLI or a hosting panel for example, both can end up active. Then the first copy to load runs, the other steps aside, and administrators see this notice:
Two copies of Plugixa Activity Log are active. Only one can run, so (the plugin file) was not loaded. Deactivate the copy you no longer need.
Deactivate the free copy, then delete it. The log is shared and stays as it is.
What appears after the move: the Reports, Sessions and Alert rules screens, the Export button on the log, the Pro tabs under Settings, and the integration monitors for the plugins active on your site. See Monitors if a Pro screen is missing: its feature may be switched off there.
Moving from Pro back to Free
Install and activate the free ZIP, then deactivate and delete the Pro copy. The log, the saved views and the free settings carry on.
The Pro screens and routes go, because their code is no longer there. What the Pro features stored is not deleted by the switch: the Pro tables and settings stay in the database, unused, and are picked up again if Pro comes back.
Updates
Updates arrive on the WordPress Plugins screen like any other plugin’s, and Freemius is the service that delivers them.
An update never empties the log. When a new version needs a change to the plugin’s tables, it makes the change itself. If that cannot finish, an error notice names the tables and the database’s answer and offers Try again now. See Troubleshooting.
Deactivating and deleting
| Action | What happens to the log |
|---|---|
| Deactivate | Nothing. Recording stops; every event and setting is kept |
| Delete, with the uninstall switch off (the default) | The files go; the log and the settings are kept. Installing again picks up where you left off |
| Delete, with the uninstall switch on | Every table, setting and option of the plugin is removed. This cannot be undone |
The switch is Settings -> Uninstall -> Delete all logged events and settings when the plugin is deleted. It has to be switched on and saved before you delete the plugin.
Nothing is erased while another copy of the plugin is still installed, active or not. Deleting the free copy after installing Pro therefore keeps the log, whatever the switch says. See Settings.
What leaves your site
The free plugin makes no outbound connection of its own. Its admin screens talk only to your own site.
| Service | Edition | Contacted when | What is sent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freemius | Free and Pro | If you opt in, or when you activate or manage a licence or make a purchase: on activation, on update checks and on licence actions | Data such as the site URL, WordPress and PHP versions, active theme and plugins, and the email used at opt-in. If you skip the opt-in, no identifiable data is sent |
| MaxMind PRO | Pro | Only after you enter a MaxMind account ID and licence key: monthly, when the key or database choice changes, and on Update now | The account ID and licence key. No visitor data and no address from your log. Lookups happen on your server |
| WordPress.org checksums PRO | Pro | On each file scan that includes WordPress core | Your WordPress version and site language |
| Slack, Discord, Microsoft Teams, or your own webhook PRO | Pro | When an event matches an alert rule you created | The site’s name and address, and each matching event’s severity and one-line description, which can include the user name, IP address and the title of the content involved |
| A mirror destination PRO | Pro | For every event, once you have added a mirror | The whole event, with the site’s address, to the server you named |
Every Pro row is off until an administrator sets the feature up, and there is no destination of the plugin’s own choosing. See IP Location, File Integrity, Alert Rules and Mirrors.
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Usual cause |
|---|---|
| “Two copies of Plugixa Activity Log are active” | Free and Pro are both active. Deactivate the one you no longer need. |
| The log looks empty after installing Pro | It is the same log. Check the filters and the saved view the log opened with. |
| A Pro screen is missing after the move | Its feature is switched off on the Monitors screen. |
| “Could not finish setting up its database tables” | A table change did not complete. Use Try again now. |
| The log is still there after deleting the plugin | The uninstall switch is off, or another copy of the plugin is still installed. |
What to do next
- Start using it: Getting started.
- See what each download includes: Free vs Pro.
- Decide how long events are kept: Retention.