In the Quick Guide we’ll use WP Security Audit Log to keep an activity log of what’s happening on our WordPress site. Activity logs are a chronological list of records of what logged in users did on your WordPress sites and multisite networks. A WordPress activity log a vital part of site security and management because in them, you can find a user log full of information about user logins—from where they logged in and when, what content they have created, published, modified and deleted, what user profile and WordPress settings changes other administrators have done, and much more.
In short, they make security auditing easier and let you log user activity so that in the event of a compromise you know who made a mistake.
When you have a WordPress activity monitor in place, you:
- Ease troubleshooting in case of site problems
- Keep tabs on users’ progress and productivity without having to chase them
- Identify suspicious behavior and stop possible malicious WordPress hack attacks
- Better manage your WordPress site.
WordPress does not keep a record of what users do on your site, so you have to install an activity log plugin. There are a quite a few such plugins available. For this example we will use the free WP Security Audit Log plugin which has good coverage and the features that businesses need to set up a solid activity log system.
What WP Security Audit Log Can Do For You
Once you install the plugin it will start automatically keeping a log of what is happening, so as such there is no much you need to do. Though you are also greeted with a setup wizard which allows you to configure some of the basics:
