Install BugTrace

BugTrace shows your WordPress debug log inside your dashboard. It is 100% free. This guide shows you how to install it. It also shows what BugTrace changes on your site.

Before you start #

• You need WordPress 6.2 or newer.
• You need PHP 7.4 or newer.
• You must be an administrator.
• WordPress must be able to write to your wp-config.php file. BugTrace changes this file to turn debug mode on and off.

Install and activate BugTrace #

1. In your dashboard, go to Plugins → Add New Plugin.
2. In the search box, type BugTrace.
3. Find BugTrace – Debug Log Tool. Click Install Now.
4. Click Activate.
5. A new BugTrace menu appears on the left. It has three pages: Logs, Server Info and Settings.

BugTrace also adds a BugTrace menu to the admin bar at the top of the screen. From there you can view, download or clear the log.

What changes when you activate BugTrace #

When you activate BugTrace, it turns on debug logging for you. It does not ask first. It does these things:

1. It saves a copy of your wp-config.php file. The copy is called wp-config-backup.php. It is in the same folder.
2. It adds or changes four lines in wp-config.php:

define( 'WP_DEBUG', true );
define( 'WP_DEBUG_LOG', true );
define( 'WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false );
define( 'SCRIPT_DEBUG', false );

This is what each line does:

Setting	After activation	What it does
WP_DEBUG	On	Turns on debug mode in WordPress.
WP_DEBUG_LOG	On	Saves errors to a log file.
WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY	Off	Shows errors on the screen. It stays off, so visitors do not see errors.
SCRIPT_DEBUG	Off	Loads the full (not minified) CSS and JavaScript files of WordPress.

Errors are now saved to wp-content/debug.log. You can read them in BugTrace → Logs.

You can change these settings at any time in BugTrace → Settings. Click Save Settings when you are done.

If wp-config.php is not writable #

If WordPress cannot write to wp-config.php, BugTrace changes nothing. You will see this message on the Logs and Settings pages:

Please note, wp-config.php is not writable. Please change file permissions.

Ask your web host to make the file writable. Or change the file permissions with your host’s file manager.

Do and don’t #

• Do check BugTrace → Logs after you install a new plugin or theme.
• Do change debug settings in BugTrace → Settings, not by hand.
• Do turn off WP_DEBUG_LOG on a live site when you finish. The log file can grow big, and other people may be able to open it in a browser.

• Don’t turn on WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY on a live site. Visitors would see your errors, and errors can show private details.
• Don’t edit the debug lines in wp-config.php by hand while BugTrace is active. The Settings page will not know about your change.

Next steps #

• Read and search your debug log
• Turn debug settings on or off