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300k+ installs 4.9★ (2,428)
Simple History
Track changes and user activities on your WordPress site. See who created a page, uploaded an attachment, and more, for a complete audit trail.
The facts
- Rating
- 4.9★ from 486
- Active installs
- 300k+
- Price
- Free
- Last updated
- 26 Aug 2026
- Added
- Jul 2010
- Requires WP
- 6.3
- Tested up to
- WP 7.1
- Requires PHP
- 7.4
- Downloads
- 12,817,993
Our analysis
AI-assistedSimple History is a WordPress plugin that provides a complete audit log for tracking changes made on your site. It records various activities, including content edits, user logins, plugin updates, and security events, allowing site owners and teams to monitor actions taken on their websites. The plugin is designed to be user-friendly, displaying events in plain language and using relative timestamps for easy understanding.
This plugin is suitable for site owners, agencies, and developers who need to keep track of changes and ensure accountability. It helps identify issues quickly and can alert users to suspicious activity, making it a useful tool for maintaining site security and performance.
Best for: This plugin suits site owners, agencies, and developers looking to monitor changes and maintain accountability on their WordPress sites.
What it does well
- ✓Tracks a wide range of activities including content edits and user logins
- ✓Displays events in plain language for easy comprehension
- ✓No configuration required after installation
- ✓Active development for over 10 years
- ✓Tested up to WordPress 7.1
Where it falls short
- •Limited information on specific features and functionality
Verdict
Simple History is a straightforward solution for tracking site changes and enhancing security. It is particularly beneficial for those managing multiple users or needing to audit site activity.
From the developer
Pär Thernström's own description of Simple History, lightly tidied.
Trusted by 300,000+ WordPress sites, rated 4.9 stars with 450+ five-star reviews, actively developed for 10+ years, and translated into 15+ languages.
Simple History is the complete audit log for WordPress. It tracks every meaningful change — content edits, user logins, plugin updates, security events, and more — so site owners, teams, agencies, and developers always know who did what and when. Just install and activate; no configuration required.
Every event is written to be read: plain language like Updated page “About us”, relative timestamps such as “5 minutes ago”, and before/after comparisons instead of raw data dumps.
🔍 How Simple History Helps in Real Situations
Track what’s happening on your site
“Has anyone done anything today? Ah, Sarah uploaded the new press release and created an article for it. Great — now I don’t have to do that.”
Identify issues and debug faster
“The site feels slow since yesterday. Has anyone done anything special? … Ah, Steven activated ‘naughty-plugin-x’, that must be it.”
Keep freelancers & agencies accountable
“I hired a developer to optimize my site. But did they actually do anything? A quick glance at Simple History shows me exactly what they worked on.”
Spot suspicious activity early
“I see three failed logins from an unfamiliar IP address overnight. Let me click the IP to check all activity from that address — just those attempts, nothing else. Good to know.”
✨ What Simple History Tracks
Security & Monitoring
- Failed user logins with IP tracking and filtering by type (wrong password vs. non-existent username)
- Core file integrity checks against official checksums
- Forced security auto-updates from WordPress.org
- Site Health status changes
- Admin page access denied events
Content & Users
- Posts, pages, and custom post types — create, edit, delete, and homepage assignment
- Attachments with image edit details (crop, rotate, flip, scale) and thumbnail previews
- Taxonomies with detailed diffs of name, slug, description, and parent
- Comments, menus (with item-level detail), and widgets
- User profiles, logins, logouts, and role changes
- Notes — the collaboration feature in WordPress 6.9
System & Updates
- Plugin lifecycle: install, update, activate, deactivate, delete, and auto-update toggle
- Theme install, update, activate, switch, and delete
- WordPress core updates (manual and automatic)
- Translation and language pack updates
- Available update notifications
- Settings and option screen changes
Privacy & Compliance
Tagged as
industry
Accounting & Financial Services
topic
Monitoring & Uptime
History
User Tracking
Activity
Change
Track
User Activity
Attachments
Attachment
Log
platform
Advanced Custom Fields
audience
Agencies & Freelancers
quality
Security
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