Charitable Pro starting in 1.8.13 includes a Centralized Logging System that stores plugin log entries in your database and provides an admin screen to view, filter, search, and export them. Support may ask you to check or export logs from this screen when troubleshooting issues such as donation failures, payment gateway errors, or form validation problems.
Where to Find Logs
- In the WordPress admin, go to Charitable → Tools.
- Click the Logs tab.
You will see the Logs settings and, when logging is enabled and entries exist, a table of log records.
Enabling Logging
Logging is off by default.
- On Tools → Logs, turn on Enable Logging.
- Log entries will start to be recorded from that point on. Existing entries (if any) remain visible until they are deleted or removed by the retention setting.
When logging is disabled, no new entries are written. You can still view and export any logs that were captured before you disabled it.
Auto-Delete (Retention)
Use Auto-Delete After to control how long log entries are kept:
- Options: 7, 14, 30, 60, or 90 days.
- Records older than the selected period are automatically deleted during a daily cleanup.
This helps limit database size while keeping recent logs for debugging.
Viewing Logs
The log table shows:
- Title – Short summary of the log entry (click to open details).
- Message – Truncated message text.
- Types – Category of the log (e.g. Donation, Payment, Gateway, Error, Form).
- Level – Severity: Error, Warning, Info, or Debug.
- Source – Where the log came from (e.g. Core, Stripe, PayPal, Form).
- Date – When the entry was created.
Click a Title to open a detail view in a modal. The detail view shows the full message, date, level, types, source, and any Related Records (e.g. Campaign ID, Donation ID, Donor ID) with links to those items in the admin.
Filtering and Search
Above the table you can narrow down entries:
- Type – Filter by log type (Donation, Payment, Gateway, Error, Form, etc.).
- Level – Filter by level (Error, Warning, Info, Debug).
- Source – Filter by source (Core, Stripe, PayPal, Form, etc.).
- Search – Use the “Search Logs” box to search in log content.
Click Filter to apply the dropdowns; use the search box and submit to search. Filter and search work together. You can sort by date (and other columns where available) using the column headers.
Exporting Logs
Export is useful when support asks you to send logs for a specific issue.
- Export Filtered (CSV) – Exports only the rows that match the current filters and search. Apply your filters first, then click this button.
- Export All (CSV) – Exports all log entries in the database (respecting retention; older entries may already have been deleted).
The CSV can be opened in a spreadsheet or text editor and attached to a support ticket or shared as requested.
Deleting Logs
- Delete All Logs – Permanently removes all log entries from the database. Use this if you want to clear old logs or start fresh. This action cannot be undone.
When Support Asks for Logs
If you are troubleshooting an issue:
- Go to Charitable → Tools → Logs.
- Ensure Enable Logging is on so future events are recorded (if support needs to reproduce the issue).
- Use Type, Level, and Source to narrow to the relevant area (e.g. Error + Gateway for payment problems).
- Use Search to find messages that mention an error code, gateway name, or time frame.
- Click a Title to open the full message and Related Records (Campaign, Donation, Donor) if that helps describe the issue.
- Click Export Filtered (CSV) or Export All (CSV) and send the file to support as instructed.
Keeping logging enabled when debugging allows new errors to be captured and then viewed or exported from this screen.
Requirements
- Charitable Pro: Version 1.8.13 or higher
- WordPress: Version 6.2 or higher
- PHP: Version 7.4 or higher
The Logs tab appears under Charitable → Tools in the WordPress admin. If you do not see it, confirm you are on Charitable Pro 1.8.13 or later and that your user role has access to Charitable tools.
