General Support - WordPress - Where The Plugin Data is Stored

Where Data is Being Stored

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Our plugins take advantage of the existing WordPress features to provide the plugins' functionality.

• The text, metadata, and settings are stored in the WordPress database.
• Static files like images, JS, CSS used by the plugin are stored in the plugins directory.
• The users' files uploaded when working with the plugin are stored in the plugin-specific folder inside the wp-content/uploads directory.

Data isn't lost after removing the plugin. However, moving the plugin's data between two different websites can be very difficult because of the IDs associated with each other as foreign keys.

Posts and posts meta-data

Most of our plugins provide a custom post type which gives its main feature. Posts are stored in the standard WordPress table  wp_posts in the database and its meta-data in the wp_postmeta table.

Examples of custom posts types with post_type field:

• CM Answers (Question): cma_thread
• CM Download Manager (Download Page): cmdm_page
• CM Video Lessons (Channel): cmvl_channel
• CM Maps Routes (Route): cmmrm_route
• CM Maps Routes (Location): cmmrm_location
• CM Business Directory (Business ): cm-business
• CM Expert Directory (Expert): cm-expert
• CM Product Directory (Product): cm-product

Comments

Some data is stored as comments to the post in the wp_comments table and its meta-data is stored in the wp_commentmeta table.

Examples of custom comments types:

• CM Answers (Answer): cma_answer
• CM Answers (Comment): cma_comment
• CM Downloads Manager (Log): cmdm_download_log

Categories, tags, user groups

These are custom term taxonomies and are stored in the standard WP tables as: wp_terms, wp_termmeta, wp_term_taxonomy, wp_term_relationships.

Examples of the custom taxonomies:

• CM Answers (Category): cma_category
• CM Answers (Tag): cma_tag
• CM Download Manager (Category): cmdm_category
• CM Download Manager (User Group): cmdm_user_group
• CM Video Lessons (Category): cmvl_category

Tags are often obtained from the WP standard taxonomy post_tag.

Settings

Plugins store settings in the standard WP table wp_settings and are prefixed by the plugin's abbreviation as cma_ or cmdm_.

Users and user meta-data

The user's data is taken from the standard wp_users database table and wp_usermeta for the meta-data.

Text labels and translations

Some plugins use PO/MO translation files which are located in the plugin's directory, most commonly in the " lang" directory. The free Loco Translated plugin can be used to modify those files and create translations.

Some plugins are text labels that can be modified in the plugin's settings under the Labels tab. These are stored in the WP database in the  wp_settings table and are prefixed by the plugin's abbreviation as cma_label_.

Learn More

Where Are My WordPress Plugins Options Stored?
Where Are The WordPress Plugins Stored?

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