Switch add-ons on and off

You switch add-ons on and off from the AddoBase screen in wp-admin, from the normal Plugins screen, or from My Account on addocore.com. An add-on is “on” for a site when it is licensed, holds one of the sites in your license, and is active in WordPress. The AddoBase screen handles all three in one click.

How do you switch add-ons on and off in the AddoBase screen?

With the one button in each row of the Add-ons table. Which button you see depends on the add-on’s state:

• Install and switch on: licensed, not installed yet. AddoBase first reserves a site in your license, then downloads, installs and activates the add-on. Because the reservation comes first, a full license never leads to an install.
• Switch on: installed but off. AddoBase reserves a site and activates the plugin.
• Switch off: frees the site in your license and deactivates the plugin. Settings and data stay.
• Try free for N days or Buy a license: no license yet. Both open the product page in a new tab.

A successful click ends with “The add-on is switched on.” or “The add-on is switched off.” at the top of the screen. After a trial or a purchase, click Check now so the table picks up the new license. The screen also refreshes itself when you open it and the stored state is older than 5 minutes.

Which permissions do you need to switch add-ons on and off?

Each button checks a WordPress capability:

• manage_options to open the AddoBase screen
• activate_plugins for Switch on and Switch off
• install_plugins for Install and switch on
• update_plugins for the Update to x.y.z buttons

Without the capability the action stops with a message such as “You are not allowed to install plugins on this site.”

Can you switch add-ons on and off from the Plugins screen?

Yes, you can switch add-ons on and off there too. Activating a licensed add-on on the Plugins screen reserves a site in your license; deactivating it frees the site. AddoBase listens to WordPress’ own activation hooks on every request, not only in wp-admin, so WP-CLI and hosting control panels count too:

wp plugin activate addofy
wp plugin deactivate addofy

When the license has no free site left, WordPress still activates the plugin, but its licensed features stay off. The add-on’s status then reads “Installed, licensed features off”, and the AddoBase screen shows the reason the next time you open it. Activating an add-on you hold no license for reserves nothing.

How do you switch add-ons on and off from My Account?

Under My Account → WordPress plugins → Sites, every connected site lists its add-ons with a status (On, On, but no free site in your license, On, but not licensed or Off) and a Switch on or Switch off button. After a click you see “Switched on for <site>. The site applies it at its next check, or right away when you open AddoBase there.”

The next check runs within about 12 hours. Switching on from My Account reserves the site, but the plugin must also be active in WordPress; until it is, AddoBase shows “Licensed here, plugin not active”. Switching off frees the site, and the add-on’s licensed features stop at the site’s next check. Sites that use a license key have no buttons here. More in Managing sites in My Account.

What happens when all sites in your license are in use?

Switching on is refused, with the message “Your license covers 5 sites and they are all in use. Switch the plugin off on another site, or upgrade your license.” For a 1-site license it reads “Your license covers 1 site and it is in use.” Nothing is switched off for you.

To move a license to a new site, switch the add-on off on the old site first, then switch it on on the new one. To cover more sites at once you need a bigger license; see WordPress plugin trial and licenses.

What do the License and On this site labels mean?

The License column shows what your account holds:

• “No license”
• “Free trial, N days left”
• “Licensed, X of Y sites in use”
• “Licensed, unlimited sites”

The On this site column shows the add-on’s state here:

• “Active”: licensed, holds a site, plugin active. Everything runs.
• “Licensed here, plugin not active”: holds a site, but the plugin is deactivated in WordPress. Click Switch on or activate it on the Plugins screen.
• “Switched on, but all licensed sites are in use”: switched on for this site, but the license has no room. Free a site elsewhere.
• “Installed, licensed features off”: the plugin is active, but not licensed or not switched on here.
• “Off”: not switched on and not active.

Does a license key change how you switch add-ons on and off?

Yes, slightly. A site that uses a license key instead of a connected account has no remote switch. Activating the plugin is the switch: AddoBase refreshes right after, and the add-on takes a free site in your license if there is one. The buttons on the AddoBase screen still work; they activate or deactivate the plugin and then refresh. Setup is in Using a license key instead of connecting.

Where do you go next?

Now that you can switch add-ons on and off, set up the add-on itself. If the AddoBase screen shows no buttons yet, first install and connect AddoBase. For Addofy, follow Addofy setup.