Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes

Track changes and user activities on your WordPress site. See who created a page, uploaded an attachment, and more, for a complete audit trail.

4.9

Rating summary

389

Reviews

200K

Active installations

Download the Plugin

Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes

Overview

Compatibility

Customer support & learning resources

Changelog

Main benefits

Comprehensive logging plugin

No coding required

Supports multiple plugins

Detailed user activity logs

Extendable with add-ons

About this plugin

Categories: Utilities

Version: 4.16.0

Last updated: 09-07-2024

WordPress version: 6.1

Tested up to: 6.5.5

PHP version required: 7.4

Languages: Dansk, Deutsch (Schweiz, Du) [+16]

Tags:

Audit log History Event log Activity User tracking

Learning resources: View resources

Overview

Simple History is a comprehensive logging plugin for WordPress that facilitates tracking recent changes on your website, whether on the dashboard or a dedicated page. Ideal for websites with multiple content editors, it automatically logs crucial events like post updates, attachment modifications, comments, widget changes, and user login activities, among others, without any coding required. It also supports various third-party plugins such as Jetpack, Advanced Custom Fields, and Beaver Builder, making it a versatile tool for managing website modifications and debugging. Users can access logs through the dashboard or an optional RSS feed, with WP-CLI commands available for command-line enthusiasts. Additional customization is possible via an API for developers, while powerful add-ons extend its functionality for enhanced site tracking, particularly for WooCommerce discussions. Highly praised with over 300 five-star reviews, it is a reliable tool for maintaining a secure and well-monitored WordPress site.

Comprehensive Logging

Logs a wide range of activities including posts, pages, attachments, taxonomies, comments, widgets, plugins, user profiles, and logins.
Includes detailed information about changes made to user profiles and failed login attempts.
Supports logging for third-party plugins like Jetpack, Advanced Custom Fields, and Beaver Builder.

Ease of Use

No coding required; just install and it starts logging events automatically.
Access logs directly from the dashboard or a dedicated Simple History page.
Optional password-protected RSS feed to keep track of changes using an RSS reader.

Developer Friendly

API available for theme or plugin developers to add custom events to the audit log.
WP-CLI commands available for command line enthusiasts to list logged events.
Documentation provided for logging custom events and querying the log.

Extendable Functionality

Add-ons available to extend functionality, such as WooCommerce Logger and Extended Settings.
Future add-ons planned for logging sent emails, HTTP API requests, and cron jobs.
Support for adding logging capabilities to other plugins using the logging API.

Features list

Feature

Free version

Premium version

Track and view changes

Track and view changes made within your WordPress site

Comprehensive audit trail

Comprehensive audit trail of user activities

Monitor user activity

Debug changes

Revise edits

Clear log of actions

Clear and comprehensive log of all actions made

Automatic logging

Automatic logging of activities

Access history log

Access history log through the dashboard widget or via the ‘Simple History’ page

Search and filter

Search and filter feature to find past events

Multiple log levels

Multiple log levels to categorize events

API support

API to extend the plugin

WP-CLI support

No cloud storage

No cloud involved, all data stored on your server

No coding required

No coding or configuration required

Set log retention period

Allows users to define how long logs are stored.

Store full IP addresses

Enables the storage of complete IP addresses for tracking.

Show users on a Google Map

Displays user locations on an integrated Google Map.

Pricing

Free Plan

$0 / one-time

Plan includes

Track and view changes

Comprehensive audit trail

Monitor user activity

Debug changes

Revise edits

Clear log of actions

Automatic logging

Access history log

Buy Now

Add-ons

$0 / one-time

Plan includes

Set log retention period

Store full IP addresses

Show users on a Google Map

Buy Now

In some cases companies have different prices based on various components like a location. As a result the prices displayed here can differ from the ones you see on their websites.

See all pricing options

Rating and reviews

4.9

Rating summary

389

Reviews

200K

Active installations

User sentiment analysis

Users greatly appreciate the WordPress plugin for its clean and simple design, ease of use, and efficiency in logging activities. It provides a detailed history of site changes, making it invaluable for troubleshooting and managing multiple users. By capturing significant events like updates, edits, and user logins, the plugin enhances security, offers a clear audit trail, and saves time. Users also commend its reliability, minimal bloat, and user-friendly interface. However, some criticisms include a desire for multi-site logging, issues with the logging interface after updates, multiple updates for bug fixes, and occasional performance problems. Despite these drawbacks, it remains highly recommended for its functionality and support.

phalancs

27 Jan, 2025

Since one of the recent updates, the plugin creates new menu items almost everywhere per default. While it used to have a single menu element below “Dashboard” (which is great), it now not only appears in the dashboard menu but also in the admin bar and even creates a new top level settings page. Settings pages belong under the “settings” menu and not as a new top level item. Also, I think its bad practice to introduce such major visual changes and activate them per default. I hope they change this behavior, move the settings menu, or at least disable the new items per default. EDIT: Upgraded the rating. Please consider the backend menu logic though for further updates. Thanks. This topic was modified 3 days ago by phalancs. This topic was modified 2 days, 23 hours ago by phalancs.

Bernd

27 Jan, 2025

The perfect audit log. If all plugins were like this, you’d be walking around smiling all day.

TuomasL

27 Jan, 2025

Great history plugin that is updated frequently.It’s simple to use, has a clean interface and just works.Very easy to recommend. The addition of stealth mode in 5.6.0 was excellent, as this isn’t really information dashboard end users need.

lordgamer2354

01 Dec, 2024

Amazing plugin for logging and activity track of your site, highly recommended 👍

Gidseo

09 Nov, 2024

If you’re managing sites that have multiple people contributing to them or you want to be able to see what changed before something went wrong it’s essential.

Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes

Overview

Compatibility

Customer support & learning resources

Changelog

Main benefits

About this plugin

Overview

Comprehensive Logging

Ease of Use

Developer Friendly

Extendable Functionality

Features list

Pricing

Plan includes

Plan includes

Rating and reviews

User sentiment analysis

FAQ

Is the plugin free?

How do I view the log?

Can I see the log in the front end?

Do I need to have coding skills to use the plugin?

Where is the log stored?

Can I export the log?

Is my theme supported?

Is my plugin supported?

Will my website slow down because of this plugin?

Who can view the log?

Is it possible to exclude users from the log?

For how long are the history kept?

Can I track changes made by specific users?

Is this plugin GDPR compliant?