Activity Log – Monitor & Record User Changes vs Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes

An easy to use, fully supported WordPress activity log plugin. Want to know exactly who does what on your WordPress site? Activity Log works like an airplane’s black box: it quietly records every action in the WordPress admin — and now every request made through the REST API, WP-CLI, WP-Cron, and more — so you always know: If someone is trying to hack your site When a post was published, and who published it If a plugin/theme was activated/deactivated Suspicious admin activity The plugin doesn’t require any setup; it works right out of the box, runs on its own database table so it doesn’t slow down your site, and stays out of your way until you need it. What’s New Request Source Tracking – See exactly where each change came from: the WP Admin, the REST API, WP-CLI, WP-Cron, XML-RPC, or the WP Abilities API, including which Application Password was used. Filter the log by source to quickly spot automated or API-driven changes alongside manual admin activity. Email Logging – Capture all emails sent from your WordPress site for streamlined debugging and compliance. Especially useful for WooCommerce stores tracking order emails alongside other site events. Export to CSV – Export your Activity Log data to CSV, or build support for your own format with our dedicated Export API. Data Privacy and GDPR Compliance – Export or erase log data directly through the WordPress Privacy Tools. If you have more than a handful of users, keeping track of who did what by hand is virtually impossible. Activity Log solves that by tying every action back to the user who triggered it, in an easy-to-filter view right on your WordPress dashboard. With the Activity Log you can record: WordPress – Core updates Posts – Created, updated, deleted Pages – Created, updated, deleted Custom Post Type – Created, updated, deleted Tags – Created, updated, deleted Categories – Created, updated, deleted Taxonomies – Created, updated, deleted Menus – Created, updated, deleted Media – Created, updated, deleted Comments – Created, approved, unapproved, trashed, untrashed, spammed, unspammed, deleted Users – Login, logout, login failed, update profile, registered, deleted Plugins – Installed, updated, activated, deactivated, changed Themes – Installed, updated, deleted, activated, changed (Editor and Customizer) Widgets – Added to sidebar, deleted from sidebar, order widgets Setting – General, writing, reading, discussion, media, permalinks Options – Extended custom settings for 3rd party plugins Export – Exported activity log file Request Source – WP Admin, REST API, WP-CLI, WP-Cron, XML-RPC, WP Abilities, and Application Password name when used WooCommerce – Track products, orders, customers, and more bbPress – Forums, topics, replies, taxonomies, and other actions Emails sent from WordPress site – Sending successful, sending failed There’s more, of course, but you get the point… For each event recorded by the activity log, the following details are also logged: Date and time of occurrence User and user role responsible for the change Source IP address from which the change originated Request source — WP Admin, REST API, WP-CLI, WP-Cron, XML-RPC, or WP Abilities Affected object where the change occurred Data Storage and Performance All events are stored in a dedicated custom database table, keeping the impact on your site’s performance to a minimum — even under heavy traffic. Uninstall Clean-up Uninstalling the plugin removes all of its data from your database automatically, leaving nothing behind. What users have to say “Its tools, particularly for data privacy and GDPR compliance, make it indispensable for websites operating within European Union boundaries or dealing with EU citizens’ data” – HubSpot.com “If you’re after a competent WP security audit log plugin with all the basic features you need, Activity Log is it!” – WPAstra.com “Activity Log features a remarkably straightforward dashboard interface, providing administrators with an at-a-glance understanding of site interactions” – Malcare.com “Thanks to this step, we’ve discovered that our site was undergoing a brute force attack” – Artdriver.com “Activity Log lets you track a huge range of activities. Overall, very easy to use and setup” – ElegantThemes.com Contributions: Would you like to contribute to this plugin? You’re more than welcome to submit your pull requests on the GitHub repo. And, if you have any notes about the code, please open a ticket on the issue tracker.

Trusted by 300,000+ WordPress sites, rated 4.9 stars with 450+ five-star reviews, actively developed for 10+ years, and translated into 15+ languages. Simple History is the complete audit log for WordPress. It tracks every meaningful change — content edits, user logins, plugin updates, security events, and more — so site owners, teams, agencies, and developers always know who did what and when. Just install and activate; no configuration required. Every event is written to be read: plain language like Updated page “About us”, relative timestamps such as “5 minutes ago”, and before/after comparisons instead of raw data dumps. 🔍 How Simple History Helps in Real Situations Track what’s happening on your site “Has anyone done anything today? Ah, Sarah uploaded the new press release and created an article for it. Great — now I don’t have to do that.” Identify issues and debug faster “The site feels slow since yesterday. Has anyone done anything special? … Ah, Steven activated ‘naughty-plugin-x’, that must be it.” Keep freelancers & agencies accountable “I hired a developer to optimize my site. But did they actually do anything? A quick glance at Simple History shows me exactly what they worked on.” Spot suspicious activity early “I see three failed logins from an unfamiliar IP address overnight. Let me click the IP to check all activity from that address — just those attempts, nothing else. Good to know.” ✨ What Simple History Tracks Security & Monitoring Failed user logins with IP tracking and filtering by type (wrong password vs. non-existent username) Core file integrity checks against official checksums Forced security auto-updates from WordPress.org Site Health status changes Admin page access denied events Content & Users Posts, pages, and custom post types — create, edit, delete, and homepage assignment Attachments with image edit details (crop, rotate, flip, scale) and thumbnail previews Taxonomies with detailed diffs of name, slug, description, and parent Comments, menus (with item-level detail), and widgets User profiles, logins, logouts, and role changes Notes — the collaboration feature in WordPress 6.9 System & Updates Plugin lifecycle: install, update, activate, deactivate, delete, and auto-update toggle Theme install, update, activate, switch, and delete WordPress core updates (manual and automatic) Translation and language pack updates Available update notifications Settings and option screen changes Privacy & Compliance Privacy data export and user data erasure requests Privacy page changes IP addresses anonymized by default — no cookies, no external fonts WordPress AI plugin activity is logged without ever storing API keys or prompt content 🔌 Built-in Third-Party Plugin Support Simple History includes built-in logging for: WordPress AI plugin – Feature toggles, AI provider and model changes, and connector approval requests, grants, and revocations Jetpack – Module activations and deactivations Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) – Field group and field changes User Switching – User switch events WP Crontrol – Cron event and schedule changes Enable Media Replace – File replacement details Limit Login Attempts – Login attempts, lockouts, and config changes Redirection – Redirect and group changes, global settings Duplicate Post – Post and page cloning Beaver Builder – Layout, template, and settings saves Is your plugin missing? Plugin authors can add support using the logging API. 💬 What Users Say 450+ five-star reviews on WordPress.org: “So far the best and most comprehensive logging plugin” – @herrschuessler “The best history plugin I’ve found” – Rich Mehta “Fantastic plugin I use on all sites” – Duncan Michael-MacGregor “It is a standard plugin for all of our sites” – Mr Tibbs 🚀 View Your Log Everywhere Simple History starts tracking instantly after activation — no setup needed. It even imports recent activity so your log isn’t empty on day one. Access your log from: Dashboard widget – Activity stats summary and recent events Admin bar quick view – Dropdown with latest events on any admin page Command palette – Type “Simple History” to jump to the log for the current post Dedicated admin page – Full log with search, filters, and insights sidebar Email reports – Weekly summary delivered to your inbox RSS feed – Password-protected feed for your favorite reader WP-CLI – Command-line access for automation and scripting REST API – Programmatic access for custom integrations 📧 Weekly Email Reports – Stay Informed Without Logging In Weekly email reports deliver a summary of your site’s activity every Monday morning — total activity, daily breakdown, key metrics (logins, content updates, plugin changes), and direct links to the full log. Perfect for site owners, agencies managing client sites, and teams who need regular updates without logging in. Enable it in settings and see what the email looks like before turning it on. 🛠️ For Developers & Power Users WP-CLI – List, search, and export events from the command line — perfect for automation and managing multiple sites REST API – Full programmatic access to query the log and add custom events. See the documentation Logging API – Log your own events from themes and plugins with a single line of code RSS feed – Subscribe to changes using any feed reader AI & agent-friendly – The REST API and RSS feed make Simple History accessible to AI agents and automated workflows like Claude Code Stealth Mode – Run Simple History completely hidden from the admin interface via code; Premium adds a GUI. Ideal for agencies and client sites 🔆 Extend with Add-ons Simple History Premium Alerts & Notifications – Get notified instantly via Email, Slack, Discord, or Telegram when important events occur. Start quickly with preset rules for common scenarios or build custom rules filtered by event type, user, role, and log level. Log Forwarding – Stream events to external destinations: local log files, syslog servers (UDP/TCP/TLS), Datadog, Splunk, webhooks, or external MySQL/MariaDB databases. Perfect for centralized logging, compliance, and backup. Enhanced Controls – Custom retention periods (or keep logs forever), CSV/JSON export of filtered search results, post activity panel in the block editor, custom log entries for team decisions, stealth mode GUI, logger control to fine-tune which events are recorded, and an ad-free experience. WooCommerce Logger Track WooCommerce activity: orders, refunds, stock changes, product updates, pricing adjustments, settings modifications, and coupon usage. Debug and Monitor Monitor outgoing HTTP requests and emails, debug API calls, and see what’s happening under the hood. Essential for developers and support teams. 💚 Sponsor this project If you like this plugin please consider sponsoring the development of the free plugin. The plugin has been free for over 10 years and will continue to be free.