⚙️ Settings & Configuration

Customize Activity Log Pro to match your specific monitoring needs and compliance requirements.

The Settings page allows you to customize Activity Log Pro’s behaviour to match your specific needs.

Settings Overview

General Settings

Log Retention Period:

Choose how long to keep activity logs before automatic deletion.
This controls how long activity logs are stored in your WordPress database before being automatically deleted. You can choose from several options ranging from ‘Never’ (logs are kept indefinitely) to specific time periods like 30, 60, 90, 180, or 365 days.

Setting an appropriate retention period helps manage database size and performance while ensuring you have access to historical activity data for the timeframe that matters most to your site’s security and compliance needs. For most sites, a retention period of 90-180 days provides a good balance between maintaining useful historical data and keeping database storage manageable. Choose ‘Never’ only if you have specific compliance requirements or unlimited storage capacity, as this can lead to very large database tables over time.
- Options: Never, 7 days, 14 days, 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, 180 days, 365 days
- Default: 30 days


Items Per Page:

Number of activity logs to display per page.
This determines how many activity log entries are displayed on each page of the activity log viewer. You can choose from several options including 10, 25, 50, or 100 items per page. A lower number like 10 or 25 items per page provides faster page loading times and is ideal for sites with limited server resources or slower internet connections. Higher values like 50 or 100 items per page reduce the need for pagination and allow you to view more log entries at once, which can be more efficient when reviewing large amounts of activity data. Consider your server performance, typical usage patterns, and user preferences when selecting this value – most users find 25-50 items per page to be a good balance between performance and usability.
- Options: 10, 20, 30, 50, 100
- Default: 20


Core Track Events:

Select which types of events to track.
The Core Track Events section allows you to control which types of WordPress activities are monitored and logged by the Activity Log Pro plugin. This feature provides granular control over what gets tracked, helping you focus on the most relevant activities for your site’s security and compliance needs.

Available Event Categories:

  • User Events – Login attempts, user creation, role changes, profile updates
  • Post Events – Post creation, editing, deletion, status changes
  • Media Events – File uploads, deletions, media library changes
  • Comment Events – Comment submissions, approvals, spam detection
  • Plugin Events – Plugin installations, activations, deactivations, updates
  • Theme Events – Theme switches, customizations, updates
  • Widget Events – Widget additions, modifications, removals
  • Menu Events – Menu creation, item changes, location assignments
  • Option Events – WordPress settings changes, option updates
  • WordPress Core Events – Core updates, maintenance mode, system changes


Simply check or uncheck the categories you want to monitor. Disabling unnecessary event types can improve performance and reduce database storage while still maintaining visibility into critical site activities.


Hide/Store Full IP Address (Premium):

The Hide/Store Full IP Address feature in Activity Log Pro provides administrators with granular control over how IP addresses are stored in activity logs, helping ensure compliance with privacy regulations like GDPR while maintaining essential security monitoring capabilities.

How Hide/Store Full IP Address Works

Default Behaviour (Free Version)

  • Default Setting : IP addresses are automatically masked for privacy
  • IPv4 Masking : 192.168.1.123 becomes 192.168.1.xxx
  • IPv6 Masking : Last 80 bits (20 hex characters) are replaced with xxxx
  • Automatic Enforcement : Privacy-safe settings are automatically enforced when premium features are not available

Premium Version Options
The premium version provides two distinct options:

1 – Hide Full IP Address (Default – Privacy-Safe)

  • Masks the last octet of IPv4 addresses
  • Masks the last segment of IPv6 addresses
  • Maintains security monitoring while protecting user privacy
  • GDPR-compliant by default

2 – Store Full IP Address (Premium Only)

  • Stores complete IP addresses without masking
  • Provides full IP information for detailed security analysis
  • Requires legal compliance responsibility from the administrator

Hide Full IP Address Configuration:
The setting is found in: WordPress Admin → Activity Log Pro → Settings → Hide/Store Full IP Address


Event Filtering & Exclusions

Excluded Option Names

The Event Filtering & Exclusions feature helps you reduce noise in your activity logs by excluding automated processes and routine activities that don’t require monitoring. Some events can slip into the Logger, depending how the plugin/theme was developed.

What are Option Names?

Option names are WordPress database entries that store various settings, configurations, and temporary data. You can find these in the “Object” column of your activity logs. Common examples include:

  • Cookie consent scanning results
  • Temporary cache data
  • Auto-save information
  • Plugin-specific transients
  • Automated backup processes

How to Use Exclusions

Enter option names to exclude from logging, one per line in the textarea. The system supports both exact matching and wildcard patterns for flexible filtering.

Pattern Examples

EXACT MATCHING
user_settings — Excludes only “user_settings” (exact match)

When to use: When you want to exclude a specific, known option name that appears frequently in your logs.

WILDCARD MATCHING
temp_* — Excludes anything starting with “temp_” (like temp_data, temp_cache)
*_backup — Excludes anything ending with “_backup” (like site_backup, user_backup)
*cache* — Excludes anything containing “cache” anywhere in the name

When to use: When you want to exclude multiple related options that follow a naming pattern.

Understanding Matching Types

EXACT MATCHING

How it works: The system looks for option names that match your entry exactly, character for character.

Example: If you enter user_settings, only logs with the object name “user_settings” will be excluded.

Use case: Perfect for excluding specific, known problematic options that you’ve identified in your logs.

WILDCARD MATCHING

How it works: Uses the asterisk (*) symbol as a placeholder that can match any characters (including none).

Patterns:

  • Prefix matching: temp_* matches anything starting with “temp_”
  • Suffix matching: *_cache matches anything ending with “_cache”
  • Contains matching: *backup* matches anything containing “backup”
  • Multiple wildcards: *temp*cache* matches anything containing both “temp” and “cache”

Use case: Ideal for excluding groups of related options or when you want to catch variations of similar option names.

Best Practices for Exclusions

How to Identify What to Exclude

  1. Monitor your logs: Look for option names that appear frequently without meaningful user interaction
  2. Check the Object column: Identify patterns in automated processes
  3. Start specific: Begin with exact matches for known problematic options
  4. Use wildcards carefully: Test wildcard patterns to ensure they don’t exclude important logs

⚠️ Important: When you add exclusions, option updates matching those patterns will not be logged. This helps reduce database bloat from automated processes but means you won’t have audit trails for excluded items. Use exclusions thoughtfully and review them periodically.

Excluded Post Types

The Excluded Post Types feature allows you to prevent specific (custom) post types from being logged, helping you reduce noise in your activity logs and focus on the content types that matter most to your site’s monitoring needs. This helps keep your logs focused on meaningful content changes while reducing database storage. Useful for high-volume automated post types.

Custom Post Types

Many plugins and themes create custom post types for specialised content like property listings, portfolios, or testimonials. You can exclude these by selecting their registered post type checkbox. Note that custom post types must be properly registered with WordPress before they can be logged or excluded.

Checked = Excluded from logs | Unchecked = Logged event.

Log Feeds

The Enable Feeds section allows you to create secure, external access to your activity log data through standardized feed formats. This feature is particularly useful for integrating with external monitoring systems, SIEM tools, or custom applications that need to consume your WordPress activity data.

Enable JSON Feed (Premium)

The JSON feed provides a structured, machine-readable format of your activity logs that’s perfect for:

  • API Integration – Connect with external security monitoring tools
  • Custom Applications – Build dashboards or reporting systems
  • SIEM Systems – Feed data into Security Information and Event Management platforms
  • Automated Processing – Parse log data programmatically for analysis
    The JSON format includes detailed metadata and is easier to parse than RSS for most modern applications.

Enable RSS Feed

The RSS feed offers a more traditional syndication format suitable for:

  • Feed Readers – Monitor activity logs in standard RSS clients
  • Basic Integration – Simple webhook or notification systems
  • Legacy Systems – Older applications that support RSS but not JSON
  • Human Consumption – Readable format for manual monitoring

Security Features

Both feed types include:

  • Secure Token Authentication – Each feed uses a unique, randomly generated token
  • Token Regeneration – Generate new tokens anytime to revoke old access
  • Access Control – Only users with proper permissions can enable/configure feeds

Important: Keep your feed URLs and tokens secure, as they provide external access to your site’s activity data.

Log Details Display

Log Details Display – Multiple Expansion

The Allow multiple log entries to be expanded at once setting controls how detailed log information is displayed when viewing your activity logs. This feature affects the user interface behaviour when examining log entry details.

Admin Menu Location

The Admin Menu Location setting controls where the Activity Log Pro menu appears in your WordPress admin dashboard. This allows you to customize the plugin’s placement to match your workflow preferences.

Available Locations:

  • Default – Places the menu in the standard WordPress admin sidebar at its default position
  • Dashboard – Adds the menu as a submenu under the main Dashboard section
  • Tools – Positions the menu under the Tools section alongside other utility functions
  • Top – Moves the menu to the very top of the admin sidebar for quick access
  • Bottom – Places the menu at the bottom of the admin sidebar, out of the way but still accessible

Choosing the Right Location:

Select the location that best fits your admin workflow and how frequently you access the activity logs.

  • Top – Best for frequent users who need quick access to activity logs
  • Dashboard – Ideal for integrating with other monitoring and overview tools
  • Tools – Suitable when treating the plugin as a utility alongside other admin tools
  • Bottom – Good for occasional users who want the menu available but not prominent
  • Default – Standard placement that works well for most users

Login Page Notification

The “Login Page Notification” setting allows you to display a custom message on the WordPress login page to inform users about activity monitoring. When enabled, this feature adds a notification banner to the login screen that alerts users that their login activities are being tracked and logged by the Activity Log Pro plugin.

Key Features:

  • Enable/Disable Toggle : You can turn the notification on or off as needed
  • Custom Message : Customize the notification text to match your site’s tone and requirements
  • Transparency : Helps maintain transparency with users about activity monitoring
  • Compliance : Useful for meeting privacy policy requirements or organizational security policies

This setting is particularly valuable for sites that need to inform users about security monitoring practices or comply with privacy regulations that require disclosure of data collection activities.

Clear Logs

The “Clear Logs” feature is located in the Maintenance section of the Activity Log Pro settings and provides a way to permanently remove all logged activity data from your database.

Key Features:

  • Complete Database Cleanup : Removes all activity log entries from the database
  • Permanent Action : Once cleared, the log data cannot be recovered
  • Database Optimization : Helps reduce database size and improve performance
  • Fresh Start : Useful when you want to start monitoring from a clean slate

Important Considerations:

  • Irreversible : This action permanently deletes all log data – there is no undo option
  • Backup Recommended : Consider exporting your logs before clearing if you need to retain historical data
  • Performance Impact : Large log databases may take some time to clear completely
  • No Selective Deletion : This clears ALL logs, not specific date ranges or event types
  • bull

When to Use:

  • Database maintenance and optimization
  • Starting fresh monitoring after configuration changes
  • Removing old data when storage space is a concern
  • Compliance requirements for data retention limits
    This feature is particularly useful for sites with large amounts of log data that need periodic cleanup to maintain optimal database performance.

Uninstall Clean-up

The “Uninstall Clean-up” setting provides you with control over what happens to your plugin data when you uninstall Activity Log Pro from your WordPress site.

Key Features:

  • Complete Data Removal : When enabled, this option ensures all plugin data is permanently removed during uninstallation
  • Database Optimization : Prevents leftover data that could clutter your database and impact performance
  • Comprehensive Cleanup : Removes the activity log table, plugin options, and transients from your WordPress database
  • Optional Setting : You can choose whether to enable or disable this cleanup process


What Gets Removed:

  • Activity Log Table : The complete wp_activity_log_pro_all_logs table containing all logged activities
  • Plugin Options : All plugin-specific settings and configurations from the WordPress options table
  • Transients : All temporary data and cached information related to the plugin
  • Scheduled Tasks : Any cron jobs or scheduled processes created by the plugin


Important Considerations:

  • Irreversible : Once uninstalled with this option enabled, all log data is permanently lost
  • Clean Database : Ensures your WordPress database returns to its original state without any plugin remnants
  • Performance : Helps maintain optimal database performance by removing unnecessary data
  • Testing Friendly : Allows you to test the plugin without worrying about leftover data


When to Enable:

  • You want a completely clean uninstall
  • Database optimization is a priority
  • You’re testing the plugin temporarily
  • You need to comply with data retention policies


When to Disable:

  • You might reinstall the plugin later and want to keep historical data
  • You’re temporarily deactivating but not permanently removing the plugin