Managed Site Tools
Once a site is connected to InstaWP, everything you can do to it lives on one screen. This page is the complete map of that screen, in the order the tools appear: the actions in the site header, the quick tools behind the ⋯ button, and every item in the Manage Site and Advanced Options menus.
Before you start
Several of these tools have to be switched on inside the InstaWP Connect plugin on your site before they do anything from the dashboard. See What to enable in InstaWP Connect at the bottom of this page.
Site header
The bar at the top of every managed-site screen carries three actions plus the quick tools menu.
| Action | What it does |
|---|---|
| Edit Label | Rename the site inside InstaWP. The label is what you see in the Manage list and in reports. It does not change the site's title or its URL. |
| Create Staging | Opens the InstaWP plugin on your site at the staging wizard, where you choose Quick, Full or Custom staging and name the copy. Read more about creating a staging site: Create a Staging Site. |
| Magic Login | Opens the site's WP Admin in a new tab, already logged in. You choose which user this signs in as under Manage → Users. |
| ⋯ | The quick tools menu, covering DB Editor, View Logs, Purge Cache, Generate Report and Scan for updates. |
Quick tools
Click ⋯ at the top right of any managed-site screen.
DB Editor
Opens the InstaWP Database Manager, where you can browse the site's tables, run SQL, and import or export data without leaving InstaWP.
Requires Database Manager to be enabled in the Connect plugin.
View Logs
Shows the site's WordPress debug log so you can read recent errors and notices from the dashboard.
Requires Debug Log to be enabled in the Connect plugin, and WordPress debug logging to be on.
Purge Cache
Clears the cached copies of your pages so visitors get the current version straight away. Use it after a change that should be visible immediately but isn't. It clears both the WordPress cache and the InstaWP CDN, and reports the result of each.
Generate Report
Builds a client-ready report for the site and emails it to whoever you list. You pick the reporting period and which sections to include: Summary, Performance, Uptime History, Security Scan and Activity Logs.
Past reports, and recurring scheduled reports, live on the Reports screen. For the full walkthrough see How to generate PDF reports.
Scan for updates
Asks the site for a fresh inventory of its WordPress, plugin and theme versions, and what updates are available. Use it when you've changed something on the site directly and want the dashboard to catch up rather than waiting for the next heartbeat.
Manage Site
Prefer to watch? This walkthrough covers the managed site screens end to end.
Dashboard
The landing screen for the site. It shows Uptime, Performance and Vulnerabilities at a glance, the WordPress and PHP versions, disk usage, and an Information panel with the active theme, published posts and pages, and user count.
Two update settings live here.
Global Auto Updates is a permission switch, not an "update everything" button. Turning it on only allows WordPress' built-in automatic updater to run. It schedules nothing and changes no per-plugin or per-theme setting. Turning it off disables the updater site-wide, and Auto Update Core below it is greyed out with "Global Auto Updates is disabled", since that setting has no effect while the updater is off.
Auto Update Core controls how WordPress core updates itself:
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Yes | Auto-update core to every new release, including major versions (e.g. 6.7 → 6.8). |
| Minor | Auto-install minor and security releases only (e.g. 6.7.1 → 6.7.2). This is WordPress' default and the safest choice for production sites. |
| No | Never auto-update core. You update it manually, or from Scheduled Updates. |
Both are written to your site's wp-config.php, so they apply to the live site itself, not just to InstaWP. To choose what updates automatically, use the auto-update switches on the Plugins and Themes screens.
Scheduled Updates, the button at the top right of the Information panel, runs updates on a schedule you set instead of leaving it to WordPress. Choose the frequency and time, and tick which of Core, Plugins and Themes to include.
Plugins
Install a plugin by slug or .zip URL, and manage what's already there: activate, deactivate, update, and set each plugin's own auto-update switch. You can sort by name, by available updates, or by active/inactive state.
Themes
The same for themes: install by slug or .zip URL, activate, update, and set a per-theme auto-update switch.
Reports
Every report generated for this site, with Generate Report for a one-off and Schedule Report for a recurring emailed report. Each row shows when it was generated, the period it covers, what it included and where it was sent.
Schedule Report takes the same options as a one-off report, plus a frequency and a time in your local timezone. Use Stop to end a schedule you've already set.
Manage → Users
Add and manage the site's WordPress users without leaving InstaWP.
To add one, enter the username and email, first and last name, password and role, then click Create User.
For an existing user:
| Action | What it does |
|---|---|
| Edit in Admin Panel | Opens that user's profile in WP Admin. |
| Copy Temp Login URL | A temporary login link to the site's WP Admin, valid for 6 hours. |
| Set as Magic Login User | Makes this the account the Magic Login button signs in as. |
Staging Sites
Every staging site created from this managed site. You can open them, or reserve one so it doesn't expire.
Read more about creating one: Create a Staging Site.
Uptime
Monitors whether the site is reachable and tracks its SSL status, alerting you when it goes down.
Read more about uptime and performance monitoring: How to Monitor Uptime and Performance for Your Managed Sites.
Advanced Options
Vulnerability Scanner
Checks WordPress core, and every installed plugin and theme, against known vulnerabilities. Run one with New Scan; each result is listed with its date, status, type and a summary of what was found.
Read more about reading and acting on the results: How to Use the Vulnerability Scanner for Your Managed Sites.
Performance Scanner
Checks for issues affecting load time, plugin performance and overall site speed, and scores the site on mobile and desktop. Each scan lists how many recommendations it found, and Show expands them.
Scanning is limited to once every 24 hours; until then New Scan reports Limit Reached.
Read more about interpreting the scores and recommendations: How to Use the Performance Scanner for Managed Sites.
Activity Logs → View Logs
Every change on the site, covering posts, plugins, themes, users, logins and settings, with who did it and when. Filter by severity or by action type to narrow it down.
Read more about filtering and analysing the log: How to Access and Analyze Activity Logs for Managed Sites.
Activity Logs → Alert Rules
Turn the activity log into notifications: create a rule for the activity you care about and choose how you want to hear about it.
Read more about setting up alert rules: How to Set Alert Rules for Your Managed Sites.
Config Manager
Read and change your site's wp-config.php constants such as WP_DEBUG, WP_DEBUG_LOG and WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY, without leaving the dashboard.
Requires Config Management to be enabled in the Connect plugin. Until it is, this screen says "Managing Config is disabled in your plugin settings" instead of showing the settings.
Disconnect
Ends InstaWP's management of the site and resets the InstaWP Connect plugin on it. Staging sites you created from it are not deleted.
What to enable in InstaWP Connect
Some tools need permission from the plugin on your site before the dashboard can use them. Open the site's WP Admin (Magic Login is the quickest way), go to Tools → InstaWP, and open the Manage tab.
Heartbeat makes the site periodically report its WordPress and PHP versions, active theme, post, page and user counts and total size back to InstaWP. This is what keeps the Dashboard accurate. You can set the interval between 60 and 240 minutes. Turning Heartbeat off disconnects the site from the dashboard after an hour.
Site Management carries one toggle per capability:
| Toggle | What it unlocks in the dashboard |
|---|---|
| Database Manager | DB Editor |
| Install Plugin / Themes | Installing from the Plugins and Themes screens |
| Update Core / Plugin / Themes | Updating core, plugins and themes from the dashboard |
| Activate / Deactivate | Activating and deactivating plugins and themes |
| Config Management | Config Manager |
| Site Inventory | Reading the WordPress version and the plugin and theme list |
| Debug Log | View Logs |
Related Articles
- Managed Site Overview - Managing a connected site
- Add Connect Plugin to Site - Connect an external WordPress site
- InstaWP Connect Plugin - What the plugin does and how to configure it
- Create a Staging Site - Pull a copy of a managed site into InstaWP
- How to generate PDF reports - Create client-ready reports
- How to access and analyze activity logs - Audit site activity