Documentation

WP Technical Site Auditor

Find and Fix Every Technical Issue on Your WordPress Site

Overview Pricing Get Premium Download

Guides

Getting Started

01

Getting Started with WP Technical Site Auditor

Learn how to install the plugin and run your first scan.
02

Running Scans

Understand the scanning process and what gets analyzed.
03

Understanding Issues

Learn about severity levels and different types of issues.
04

Using Auto-Fixes

How to use one-click auto-fix to resolve common issues.
05

License Activation

How to activate and manage your Premium license.
06

Backup and Restore

How backups work - fix backups, quick & full backup, and safe restore.
07

WooCommerce Integration

Special checks and auto-fixes for WooCommerce stores.
08

Scheduled Scans

Set up automatic scans daily, weekly, or monthly.
09

Email Reports

Get an email report after scheduled scans.
10

CSV Export

Export scan results for analysis and reporting.
11

Redirect Manager

Manage 301/302/307 redirects directly in WordPress.
12

Troubleshooting

Solve common issues with scanning and auto-fix.
13

Meta Manager

Learn how to use Meta Manager to manage SEO metadata on your WordPress site.
14

Breadcrumbs

Learn how to use the Breadcrumbs module to add SEO-friendly breadcrumbs to your site.

Questions & answers

Common Questions

From version 3.0.2, the scanner automatically skips pages that fail twice in a row (one attempt + one retry). This can happen if:

  • The page takes too long to load (timeout)
  • The page returns a server error (500 error)
  • The page is too large to process
  • The server is temporarily overloaded

Skipped pages are shown in the scan log. You can try scanning again later when the server is less busy, or investigate why that particular page is problematic.

This warning appears when a page's HTML code exceeds 1 MB. Very large pages can:

  • Load slowly for visitors
  • Negatively affect SEO
  • Consume unnecessary server resources

Solution: Consider splitting the content across multiple pages, optimizing images, or removing unnecessary code from the page.

This means an email address on your site is displayed as plain text or as an incorrect link instead of a clickable mailto link. For example:

Solution: Add mailto: before the email address in the link so visitors can click and open their email client directly.

Yes. The plugin only reads and analyzes your site data during scans. File and settings fixes (Premium) always create a backup first and can be undone with one click. Database cleanups (spam, trash, revisions) permanently remove data - the plugin tells you this clearly before you run them.
No. Scans only run when you start them and do not affect visitor page loads. Optimizations you choose to activate register lightweight front-end hooks - that is their purpose.
Yes. WP Technical Site Auditor works with any WordPress theme. We also have specific optimizations for Elementor, Divi, and other page builders.
No! WP Technical Site Auditor is designed to work alongside Yoast, Rank Math, and other SEO plugins. We read your SEO settings and avoid conflicts.
Your plugin continues to work, but you won't receive updates or be able to use auto-fix features. You can renew anytime to restore full functionality.
The plugin includes 230+ checks across 24 checker modules. The free version includes over 190 of them.
  • SEO & Meta (21) - Titles, meta descriptions, Open Graph, Twitter Cards, canonical
  • Security (21) - SSL, security headers, XML-RPC, user enumeration, debug mode
  • Performance (18) - Render-blocking resources, compression, caching
  • Cleanup (15) - Emoji scripts, oEmbed, unnecessary headers and scripts
  • Images (11) - Size, format (WebP/AVIF), lazy loading, alt attributes
  • Robots & indexing (11) - robots.txt, sitemap, noindex directives
  • System Health (10) - WordPress updates, core file integrity, cron
  • Content (9) - H1 structure, heading levels, thin content, duplicate headings
  • Database (9) - Transients, revisions, autoloaded options
  • Server (9) - PHP version, memory limits, compression, HTTP/2
  • Schema.org (7), Assets (7), Links (6), Accessibility (6), URLs (5)
  • Redirects (4), External links (4), Page builders (4), 404 page (3), Breadcrumbs (3), Fonts (3), Iframes (3), Pagination (2)
Premium adds 39 WooCommerce checks for e-commerce sites.
The free version includes over 190 checks with unlimited scanning - you see every issue with fix guidance for each. Premium adds auto-fix with undo, backup & restore, scheduled scans, email reports, 39 WooCommerce checks, and the Redirects, Meta and Breadcrumbs modules. Try free first, upgrade when you want one-click fixes.
Scan duration depends on your site size: Small site (< 50 pages): 1-2 minutes. Medium site (100-500 pages): 5-10 minutes. Large site (1000+ pages): 15-30 minutes.
File and settings fixes are safe and reversible - a backup is created before each one and you can undo with a single click. .htaccess changes are also health-checked automatically and rolled back if anything goes wrong. Database cleanups, however, are permanent and cannot be undone - they are clearly marked before you run them.
Yes. Premium includes 39 checks specifically for WooCommerce stores - products, categories, shipping, payments, and store configuration.
No. All scanning and analysis happens locally on your server. The only external requests are: License validation (Premium), Update checks (to pihlfelt.se), and External link checking (if enabled).
WP Technical Site Auditor is a WordPress plugin that scans your website for technical SEO issues, performance problems, database bloat, and security vulnerabilities. It provides a prioritized list of issues with clear fix instructions, and the Premium version can automatically fix many common problems.
Unlike cloud-based tools, WP Technical Site Auditor runs entirely on your own server, so your data never leaves your site. It integrates with your existing WordPress setup, reading data from your SEO plugins and respecting your cache settings. It also checks WordPress-specific issues that external tools cannot see (database health, plugin conflicts, etc.).
WordPress 5.8 and higher. We recommend keeping WordPress updated to the latest version for security and compatibility.
PHP 7.4 and higher. We recommend PHP 8.1 or higher for best performance.
Yes. Scans run in the background and do not affect visitor experience. However, we recommend scheduling scans during low-traffic periods for large sites.
No. Both the free and premium versions scan an unlimited number of URLs. Very large sites are scanned in batches - by default up to 5,000 URLs are included per scan, adjustable via a filter. The difference between the versions is instead that Premium has auto-fixes for many common issues, plus the Redirect Manager, Meta Manager and Breadcrumbs modules.
We recommend: After making significant changes to your site. Weekly for active sites with frequent content. Monthly for stable sites. Immediately after plugin/theme updates.
Yes. Go to Site Auditor > Settings and add URL patterns to exclude (one per line). Useful for: Development/staging pages, large archive sections, paginated content beyond page 2.
Critical: Fix immediately. These issues significantly harm your site.
Warning: Fix soon. These issues negatively impact performance or SEO.
Notice: Consider addressing. These are optimization suggestions.
We check that your SEO plugin is configured correctly. If Yoast says to add a meta description but you have not, we will flag it. We are checking the output, not just whether a plugin is installed.
Yes. Click "Ignore" on any issue to hide it from your active list. Ignored issues are tracked separately and can be un-ignored at any time.
Yes (Premium). Group issues by type and use "Auto-Fix All" to apply the auto-fix to all affected pages.
Fix instructions are WordPress-general. Some theme-specific issues may require consulting your theme documentation. We provide the technical details; you may need to adapt them to your setup.
For file and settings fixes: click "Undo" next to the fix to instantly restore the original state - a backup is always created before the fix is applied and the undo data is kept for as long as the fix is active (cleaned no earlier than 90 days after it was applied). .htaccess changes are also health-checked automatically and rolled back immediately if the site becomes unreachable. Note that database cleanups (spam, trash, revisions, transients) are permanent and cannot be undone - they are clearly marked before you run them.
Some issues require: Server-level changes (PHP settings, SSL). Theme file modifications (templates). Content decisions (writing better meta descriptions). Manual review (choosing which plugins to keep). We provide detailed instructions for these issues.
There is no separate preview feature, but every fix has a description explaining exactly what it changes. File and settings fixes also automatically create a backup before they are applied and can be undone with one click, and .htaccess changes are health-checked automatically and rolled back if anything goes wrong.
Some fixes clear relevant caches automatically. If you notice stale content after a fix, clear your caching plugin cache manually.
Premium includes:
  • 70+ one-click auto-fixes - resolve issues automatically, with backup and undo
  • Quick & full backup - with safe, atomic database restore
  • Scheduled scans - daily, weekly, biweekly, or monthly
  • Email reports - get a report after scheduled scans
  • 39 WooCommerce checks + 10 WooCommerce auto-fixes
  • Redirect Manager - manage 301/302/307 redirects
  • Meta Manager - manage SEO metadata per post, page and term
  • Breadcrumbs - SEO-friendly breadcrumbs with schema.org markup
  • Priority support - fast email support
Unlimited scanning and CSV export are already included in the free version.
Your license key activates the plugin on your domains: Personal: 1 domain. Professional: Up to 5 domains. Agency: Unlimited domains. License keys renew annually.
Yes. Deactivate your license on the old site, then activate it on the new site.
Yes. We read Yoast SEO settings and use them when checking for issues. Our Meta Manager module automatically disables when Yoast is active.
Yes. Full integration with Rank Math, including reading meta settings and respecting sitemaps.
Yes. We detect WP Rocket and take it into account in our checks and fix recommendations, so you do not apply duplicate or conflicting optimizations.
Yes. We have specific checks for page builders and can optimize their settings automatically. We detect Elementor-built pages, check Elementor-specific settings, and can optimize Divi performance.
Currently, each site in a multisite network needs its own scan. Network-level administration may come in a future release.
No. The plugin does not collect any usage statistics or personal data - all scanning and analysis happens locally on your server. The only external requests are: WordPress update and core file integrity checks against api.wordpress.org (during scans), license and update checks to pihlfelt.se (Premium), and external link checking (if enabled).
Backups are stored in wp-content/tsa-backups/ with randomized, unguessable file names and protection against direct access on Apache, nginx, and IIS. Retention by type: undo data for auto-fixes is kept for as long as the fix is active and cleaned no earlier than 90 days after it was applied; full backups are cleaned automatically after 30 days; quick backups rotate so the 5 most recent are always kept.
Yes. We do not collect personal data. Backups contain only technical configuration data, not user information.
Redirect Manager is a premium module that lets you manage 301/302/307 redirects directly in WordPress. Features:
  • Create and manage redirects with a simple interface
  • Matching by exact URL, prefix, or regex
  • Automatic loop detection before a redirect is saved
  • Hit counting so you can see how often each redirect is used
  • Import/export redirects via CSV
  • Built-in test tool to verify your rules
Why is it important? Broken links hurt SEO and user experience. With Redirect Manager, you can quickly fix 404 errors and ensure old URLs point to the right content.
Meta Manager is a premium module for managing SEO metadata without a separate SEO plugin. Features:
  • Edit SEO title and meta description per post, page and term
  • Open Graph title, description and image for social media sharing
  • Canonical URL per page
  • Robots settings (noindex/nofollow) per page
  • Conflict detection - the module automatically disables itself if Yoast, Rank Math, All in One SEO, or SEOPress is active
Perfect for: Sites that want to manage SEO metadata without installing a full SEO plugin.
The Breadcrumbs module is a premium feature that adds SEO-friendly breadcrumbs to your WordPress site. Features:
  • Structured data (schema.org JSON-LD) for better SEO
  • Customizable separator
  • Support for posts, pages, archives, and WooCommerce products with category hierarchy
  • Shortcode [wtsa_breadcrumbs] and Gutenberg block
SEO benefits: Google shows breadcrumbs in search results, which increases click-through rates and helps users understand site structure.

Need help?

Need more help?

Our support team is happy to help you with questions about the plugin.

Contact Us