Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes
Plugin Review
AI-ResearchedWhat is Simple History?
Simple History is a complete audit log plugin for WordPress. It tracks every meaningful change on your site, from content edits to security events. The plugin has been actively developed for 16 years by Pär Thernström. It is trusted by over 300,000 active installations and holds a 4.9 out of 5 rating from 478 reviews, with 95% of those being five-star ratings. The plugin requires WordPress 6.3 or higher and PHP 7.4 or higher.
The plugin records user logins, plugin updates, failed login attempts, and more. It stores this data directly in your WordPress database. You can view the log through a dedicated admin page, a dashboard widget, or the admin bar. The current version is 5.29.0, last updated on June 2, 2026. Simple History is translated into 15 or more languages.
Key Features of Simple History
- Security Event Logging — Tracks failed user logins with IP filtering, core file integrity checks, and forced security auto-updates from WordPress.org.
- Content and User Tracking — Logs every action on posts, pages, custom post types, attachments with thumbnail previews, and user profile changes including roles and logouts.
- System Update Monitoring — Records plugin and theme lifecycles, including installs, updates, activations, deactivations, and deletion events.
- Privacy Compliance Tools — Logs privacy data export requests, user data erasure requests, and privacy page changes with IP addresses anonymized by default.
- Built-in Third-Party Plugin Support — Includes logging for Jetpack, Advanced Custom Fields (ACF), User Switching, WP Crontrol, and Enable Media Replace out of the box.
- Log Export Options — Allows you to export the entire activity log in CSV or JSON format for external analysis or record-keeping.
- Customizable Menu Position — Lets you move the Simple History menu to the top or bottom of the main menu, or inside the dashboard or tools menus.
- Taxonomy Change Diffs — Shows detailed differences for taxonomies, including changes to name, slug, description, and parent terms.
Who Should Use Simple History?
Simple History is ideal for site owners, agency teams, and freelance developers who manage multiple WordPress sites. You need no coding skills to use it. Just install and activate the plugin, and it starts collecting logs automatically. The 300,000+ active installations and 95% five-star rating show that users across skill levels find it valuable.
The plugin helps agency owners keep freelancers accountable. A quick look at the log shows exactly what a developer worked on. It also helps site owners spot suspicious activity, such as three failed logins from an unfamiliar IP address. The plugin supports the Notes collaboration feature introduced in WordPress 6.9, making it useful for team-based sites.
Installation & Setup
You install Simple History just like any other WordPress plugin. Search for it in the plugin directory, install, and activate. No configuration is required to start logging. You can access the log immediately from the dashboard widget or the dedicated log page in the admin area.
Support & Community
Support activity over the past two months shows 11 open threads and 6 resolved threads, giving a 55% resolution rate. The plugin has 430+ five-star reviews against only 1% one-star ratings, indicating high user satisfaction. The developer has maintained the plugin for 16 years, which suggests long-term stability. Users can purchase a premium add-on to support development and unlock extra features, but the base plugin remains free.
Pros & Cons
- Instantly logs over 40 event types like content edits, logins, and plugin changes with zero setup, as confirmed by 300K+ active installs.
- Achieves a 4.9/5 rating from 478 reviews, with 95% five-star ratings, indicating high user satisfaction for a free plugin.
- Includes specific security monitoring features such as tracking failed logins by IP and filtering by error type (wrong password vs. non-existent username).
- Provides detailed diffs for taxonomy changes (name, slug, description, parent) and image edits (crop, rotate, flip, scale) with thumbnail previews.
- Actively developed for 10+ years and translated into 15+ languages, ensuring long-term compatibility and accessibility.
- The support resolution rate is low at 55% (6 of 11 threads resolved), which may leave some users without timely help.
- Logs are stored in the WordPress database, which can increase database size on high-traffic sites without built-in log rotation or pruning options.
- Does not include advanced filtering or export features natively, requiring extra code or third-party add-ons for custom report generation.
Technical Details
- Requires WordPress
- 6.3+
- Requires PHP
- 7.4+
- First Released
- 2010 (16+ years)
- Support (last 2 months)
- 11 threads — 55% resolved
Feature Tags
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, Simple History is free and has been available on WordPress.org since 2010. You can install and activate it without any cost, and it will start logging immediately.
Simple History is trusted by over 300,000 WordPress sites. It also holds a 4.9 out of 5 rating from 478 ratings, with more than 430 five-star reviews.
Simple History requires WordPress version 6.3 or higher. This ensures compatibility with modern WordPress features and security updates.
Yes, Simple History is actively maintained and was last updated on June 2, 2026. It has been developed for over 10 years, with version 5.29.0 being the latest release.
Simple History requires PHP version 7.4 or higher. This ensures the plugin runs efficiently on most modern hosting environments.
Support is responsive, with 11 support threads handled in the last 2 months and a 55% resolution rate. Most users find the plugin easy to use without needing support.
Yes, it is designed for beginners — no coding skills are needed. Just install and activate the plugin, and it will automatically start tracking changes for you.
It tracks security events like failed logins with IP details, content edits, plugin updates, and core file integrity checks. You can view logs via a dashboard widget, a dedicated admin page, or the admin bar, and export them in CSV or JSON format.