Hello @smartyp404,
I’m really sorry to hear about this experience!
To help us investigate further, could you share the version of the plugin you were using before updating to 5.3.4? Also, is this a single site or a multisite network? If it’s a multisite, could you confirm whether it’s a subdomain (site.example.com) or subfolder (example.com/site) setup?
Additionally, could you provide more details on how the error impacted your site? Was it just a PHP warning, or did it cause any critical failures? If there are additional error logs or a more complete stack trace, that would help us pinpoint the issue faster.
Looking forward to your response so we can get this sorted out as soon as possible!
Hi Lucian, thanks for your quick reply! Unfortunately I don’t know what version it was on previously. The plugins page had automatic updates enabled, but i’m not sure how often that happens. I would guess it was on the previous release assuming the auto-updates happens frequently. Let me know if there’s a way I can check better on this – the site is on WPEngine.
The site is a single site. For some users they were still able to reach the site and pages, but for other users they were seeing critical WordPress errors failure page. Anyone who tried to reach the admin page would get the critical WordPress error page, and were unable to do anything. We brought the site back online by seeing the logs and then renaming the plugin folder on disk so it would stop loading. We then disabled it from there as a short-term fix.
Here is the full error log with the website name removed:
operator not supported for strings in /nas/content/live/REDACTEDSITENAME/wp-content/plugins/wp-security-audit-log/classes/Migration/class-migration.php:1112#012
Stack trace:
#012#0 /nas/content/live/REDACTEDSITENAME/wp-content/plugins/wp-security-audit-log/classes/Migration/class-abstract-migration.php(189): WSAL\Utils\Migration::migrate_up_to_5340()
#012#1 /nas/content/live/REDACTEDSITENAME/wp-includes/class-wp-hook.php(324): WSAL\Utils\Abstract_Migration::migrate('')
#012#2 /nas/content/live/REDACTEDSITENAME/wp-includes/class-wp-hook.php(348): WP_Hook->apply_filters(NULL, Array)
#012#3 /nas/content/live/REDACTEDSITENAME/wp-includes/plugin.php(517): WP_Hook->do_action(Array)
#012#4 /nas/content/live/REDACTEDSITENAME/wp-settings.php(704): do_action('init')
#012#5 /nas/content/live/REDACTEDSITENAME/wp-config.php(129): require_once('/nas/content/li...')
#012#6 /nas/content/live/REDACTEDSITENAME/wp-load.php(50): require_once('/nas/content/li...')
#012#7 /nas/content/live/REDACTEDSITENAME/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php(22): require_once('/nas/content/li...')
#012#8 {main}#012 thrown in /nas/content/live/REDACTEDSITENAME/wp-content/plugins/wp-security-audit-log/classes/Migration/class-migration.php on line 1112
Thanks again for your help!
Hello @smartyp404
Thanks for the details! This is the first time we’ve encountered this specific issue, and without knowing the exact version you migrated from, it’s possible that some possible old/corrupted database entries might have been causing this, during migration.
To try and resolve this, I recommend removing and reconfiguring the plugin from scratch to ensure a clean setup. Here’s how you can do that safely:
Step 1: Remove Old Plugin Data
- Deactivate and delete the WP Activity Log plugin from your WordPress admin panel.
- Access your database (via phpMyAdmin or a similar tool).
- Locate the
wp_options table.
- Search for and remove all entries prefixed with
WSAL_—this will reset the plugin settings but will not delete any stored logs or activity records.
Step 2: Reinstall the Plugin
- Download and install the latest version of WP Activity Log from the plugin repository 5.3.4.1.
- Activate the plugin and go through the initial setup to ensure all configurations are applied correctly.
Once you’ve reinstalled the plugin, monitor the site and let us know if the issue persists. If you encounter any further problems, feel free to share updated logs and steps on how to reproduce, and we’ll be happy to assist further!
Looking forward to your update.
Hello @smartyp404,
Thank you again for your patience while we investigated this issue.
Although we had some difficulty reproducing the exact errors you reported, we’ve introduced a few code tweaks in a patched version that we’re confident should resolve the problems.
We’d really appreciate it if you could give this version a try and let us know how it goes — I am confident the errors are now gone!
🔧 How to install the patched build:
- Download the patched v5.3.4.1 from the link attached (you will see it listed under WP Activity Log)
- From your site’s Plugins page, upload the ZIP.
- Replace the previous installation.
- Activate the plugin and test.
🧼 Optional clean install (recommended if issues persist):
Since the issue seems related to a faulty migration, we recommend a clean reinstall to ensure no legacy or corrupted data is affecting the plugin. To do that:
- Deactivate WP Activity Log.
- Access your site’s database (via cPanel, phpMyAdmin, or your hosting platform).
- Search for and delete all
WSAL_ entries in the wp_options table.
- Upload and install the patched build.
- Activate the plugin and reconfigure your settings.
Note: This will not remove any previously stored logs or records. It will only reset the plugin settings, which you’ll need to reconfigure afterward.
Please let us know how it goes — we’re standing by in case anything else comes up!
Hello @smartyp404 !
We have just released update 5.4.0 which includes a fix for this. You can safely update your plugin to the latest version now and check how things are going this time in case you haven’t already tried our previous patched build. Please let us know if there are any further issues!
I do appreciate your patience while we were working on this, and also for bringing this into our attention!
