{"id":62,"date":"2026-09-26T13:32:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T13:32:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/docs.prefixwp.com\/?post_type=docs&#038;p=62"},"modified":"2026-09-26T13:32:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T13:32:16","password":"","slug":"install-bugtrace","status":"publish","type":"docs","link":"https:\/\/docs.prefixwp.com\/docs\/bugtrace\/bugtrace-getting-started\/install-bugtrace\/","title":{"rendered":"Install BugTrace"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Before you start<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>You need WordPress 6.2 or newer.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You need PHP 7.4 or newer.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You must be an <strong>administrator<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>WordPress must be able to write to your <code>wp-config.php<\/code> file. BugTrace changes this file to turn debug mode on and off.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Install and activate BugTrace<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In your dashboard, go to <code>Plugins \u2192 Add New Plugin<\/code>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In the search box, type <strong>BugTrace<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Find <strong>BugTrace \u2013 Debug Log Tool<\/strong>. Click <strong>Install Now<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Click <strong>Activate<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A new <strong>BugTrace<\/strong> menu appears on the left. It has three pages: <strong>Logs<\/strong>, <strong>Server Info<\/strong> and <strong>Settings<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/docs.prefixwp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bugtrace-menu-3.webp\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1044\" height=\"634\" src=\"https:\/\/docs.prefixwp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bugtrace-menu-3.webp\" alt=\"The BugTrace menu with Logs, Server Info and Settings. The Settings page shows WP_DEBUG and WP_DEBUG_LOG turned on.\" class=\"wp-image-72\" style=\"width:522px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/docs.prefixwp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bugtrace-menu-3.webp 1044w, https:\/\/docs.prefixwp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bugtrace-menu-3-300x182.webp 300w, https:\/\/docs.prefixwp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bugtrace-menu-3-1024x622.webp 1024w, https:\/\/docs.prefixwp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bugtrace-menu-3-768x466.webp 768w, https:\/\/docs.prefixwp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bugtrace-menu-3-360x219.webp 360w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1044px) 100vw, 1044px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The BugTrace menu and the Settings page right after activation.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">BugTrace also adds a <strong>BugTrace<\/strong> menu to the admin bar at the top of the screen. From there you can view, download or clear the log.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What changes when you activate BugTrace<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When you activate BugTrace, it turns on debug logging for you. It does not ask first. It does these things:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It saves a copy of your <code>wp-config.php<\/code> file. The copy is called <code>wp-config-backup.php<\/code>. It is in the same folder.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It adds or changes four lines in <code>wp-config.php<\/code>:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>define( 'WP_DEBUG', true );\ndefine( 'WP_DEBUG_LOG', true );\ndefine( 'WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false );\ndefine( 'SCRIPT_DEBUG', false );<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is what each line does:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><thead><tr><th>Setting<\/th><th>After activation<\/th><th>What it does<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td><code>WP_DEBUG<\/code><\/td><td>On<\/td><td>Turns on debug mode in WordPress.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><code>WP_DEBUG_LOG<\/code><\/td><td>On<\/td><td>Saves errors to a log file.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><code>WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY<\/code><\/td><td>Off<\/td><td>Shows errors on the screen. It stays off, so visitors do not see errors.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><code>SCRIPT_DEBUG<\/code><\/td><td>Off<\/td><td>Loads the full (not minified) CSS and JavaScript files of WordPress.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Errors are now saved to <code>wp-content\/debug.log<\/code>. You can read them in <code>BugTrace \u2192 Logs<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You can change these settings at any time in <code>BugTrace \u2192 Settings<\/code>. Click <strong>Save Settings<\/strong> when you are done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">If wp-config.php is not writable<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If WordPress cannot write to <code>wp-config.php<\/code>, BugTrace changes nothing. You will see this message on the Logs and Settings pages:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>Please note, wp-config.php is not writable. Please change file permissions.<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ask your web host to make the file writable. Or change the file permissions with your host&#8217;s file manager.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-style-pwp-warning is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>When you deactivate BugTrace<\/strong>, it turns all four settings off. This happens even if debug mode was on before you installed BugTrace. If you need debug mode after that, turn it on again in <code>wp-config.php<\/code>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Do and don&#8217;t<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list is-style-pwp-do\">\n<li>Do check <code>BugTrace \u2192 Logs<\/code> after you install a new plugin or theme.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Do change debug settings in <code>BugTrace \u2192 Settings<\/code>, not by hand.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Do turn off <code>WP_DEBUG_LOG<\/code> 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.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list is-style-pwp-dont\">\n<li>Don&#8217;t turn on <code>WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY<\/code> on a live site. Visitors would see your errors, and errors can show private details.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Don&#8217;t edit the debug lines in <code>wp-config.php<\/code> by hand while BugTrace is active. The Settings page will not know about your change.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Next steps<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"\/docs\/bugtrace\/log-viewer\/read-and-search-your-debug-log\/\">Read and search your debug log<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"\/docs\/bugtrace\/debug-settings\/turn-debug-settings-on-or-off\/\">Turn debug settings on or off<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Install BugTrace, and learn what it changes in your wp-config.php file.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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