# Understanding the Status Report

The Card Oracle status report provides detailed diagnostic information about your WordPress installation, server environment, and plugin configuration. This information is essential for troubleshooting issues and providing accurate details when contacting support.

## Table of Contents

1. [Accessing the Status Report](#accessing-the-status-report)
2. [Using the Status Report](#using-the-status-report)
3. [WordPress Environment](#wordpress-environment)
4. [Server Environment](#server-environment)
5. [Performance](#performance)
6. [WordPress Constants](#wordpress-constants)
7. [Security](#security)
8. [Card Oracle Options](#card-oracle-options)
9. [Post Type Counts](#post-type-counts)
10. [Plugins and Theme](#plugins-and-theme)
11. [MD5 Checksums](#md5-checksums)
12. [Error and Debug Logs](#error-and-debug-logs)
13. [Interpreting Status Indicators](#interpreting-status-indicators)

---

## Accessing the Status Report

1. Navigate to **Card Oracle > Dashboard** in your WordPress admin
2. Click the **Status** tab
3. The system status report displays automatically
4. Use the **Email system report** button to send a copy via email
5. Use the **Copy for support** button to copy the report to your clipboard

---

## Using the Status Report

### When to Use It

- Before contacting support about an issue
- After updating WordPress, PHP, or your theme
- When diagnosing payment processing problems
- If readings are not displaying correctly
- When troubleshooting email integration issues

### How to Share It

The status report contains sensitive information about your server. When sharing:

1. Click **Email system report** to send it directly
2. Or click **Copy for support** and paste into your support ticket
3. Never post the full report publicly
4. Support staff will interpret the technical details for you

---

## WordPress Environment

This section shows your WordPress installation details.

### WordPress Address (URL) / Site Address (URL)

- **What it is**: Your site's root URL and homepage URL
- **Why it matters**: URLs must match and use HTTPS for payment processing
- **Red flag**: If these don't match, some features may not work correctly

### Card Oracle Version

- **What it is**: The version of Card Oracle currently installed
- **Why it matters**: Support may ask you to update to the latest version
- **Red flag**: Outdated versions may have known bugs or security issues

### Freemius Version

- **What it is**: The licensing and update framework version
- **Why it matters**: Premium features require Freemius to function
- **Red flag**: Very old versions may have compatibility issues

### Log Directory Writable

- **What it is**: Whether Card Oracle can write debug logs
- **Why it matters**: Logs help diagnose problems quickly
- **Red flag**: ❌ means Card Oracle cannot write logs for troubleshooting

### WordPress Version

- **What it is**: Your WordPress core version
- **Why it matters**: Card Oracle requires WordPress 5.0 or newer
- **Red flag**: ⚠️ warning means a newer version is available

### WordPress Multisite

- **What it is**: Whether you're running a WordPress network
- **Why it matters**: Some features behave differently on multisite
- **Note**: Card Oracle supports multisite installations

### WordPress Memory Limit

- **What it is**: Maximum RAM WordPress can use
- **Why it matters**: Low memory can cause timeouts and errors
- **Red flag**: Less than 64MB will show a warning
- **Recommended**: 128MB or higher for optimal performance

### WordPress Debug Mode

- **What it is**: Whether WP_DEBUG is enabled
- **Why it matters**: Helpful for diagnosing issues, but should be off on live sites
- **Note**: Support may ask you to enable this temporarily

### WordPress Cron

- **What it is**: Whether scheduled tasks can run
- **Why it matters**: Daily card updates and scheduled emails require cron
- **Red flag**: If disabled, automated features won't work

### Database Prefix

- **What it is**: The prefix for your WordPress database tables
- **Why it matters**: Long prefixes (>20 characters) can cause issues
- **Typical value**: `wp_`

### Language

- **What it is**: Your WordPress language setting
- **Why it matters**: Affects date formatting and translations
- **Note**: Card Oracle includes translation files for multiple languages

### External Object Cache

- **What it is**: Whether you're using Redis, Memcached, etc.
- **Why it matters**: Improves performance on high-traffic sites
- **Note**: Not required, but beneficial for large installations

---

## Server Environment

This section shows your hosting server configuration.

### Server Info

- **What it is**: Web server software (Apache, Nginx, LiteSpeed)
- **Why it matters**: Different servers handle rewrites differently
- **Note**: Most servers work fine; issues are rare

### PHP Version

- **What it is**: The PHP version your server is running
- **Why it matters**: Card Oracle requires PHP 7.2 or newer
- **Red flag**: ⚠️ warning for PHP 7.3 or below
- **Recommended**: PHP 8.0 or newer for security and performance

### PHP Post Max Size

- **What it is**: Maximum size of form submissions
- **Why it matters**: Affects image uploads and large card descriptions
- **Red flag**: Less than 8MB may cause upload failures
- **Recommended**: 32MB or higher

### PHP Time Limit

- **What it is**: Maximum seconds PHP can run before timeout
- **Why it matters**: Large imports or data processing may timeout
- **Red flag**: Less than 30 seconds may cause issues
- **Recommended**: 60 seconds or higher

### PHP Max Input Vars

- **What it is**: Maximum form fields in a single request
- **Why it matters**: Complex readings with many positions need higher limits
- **Red flag**: Less than 1000 may cause data loss on large forms
- **Recommended**: 3000 or higher

### PHP Sendmail Path

- **What it is**: The path to sendmail for email delivery
- **Why it matters**: Required for email features to work
- **Note**: Some servers use different mail handlers

### cURL Version

- **What it is**: The library version for making HTTP requests
- **Why it matters**: Payment processing and API calls use cURL
- **Red flag**: Very old versions have security vulnerabilities
- **Recommended**: 7.50 or newer

### SUHOSIN Installed

- **What it is**: PHP hardening extension
- **Why it matters**: Can interfere with large form submissions
- **Note**: Rare on modern servers

### MySQL Version

- **What it is**: Your database server version
- **Why it matters**: Card Oracle requires MySQL 5.6 or MariaDB 10.0
- **Red flag**: ⚠️ warning for versions below 5.6
- **Recommended**: MySQL 8.0 or MariaDB 10.5+

### Max Upload Size

- **What it is**: Largest file you can upload
- **Why it matters**: Limits card image sizes
- **Red flag**: Less than 2MB may prevent image uploads
- **Recommended**: 10MB or higher

### DOMDocument

- **What it is**: PHP extension for HTML processing
- **Why it matters**: Required for email templates
- **Red flag**: ❌ means emails may not format correctly

### Multibyte String

- **What it is**: PHP extension for multi-language support
- **Why it matters**: Required for proper text encoding
- **Red flag**: ❌ means non-English characters may display incorrectly

---

## Performance

This section shows real-time performance metrics.

### PHP Memory Current Usage

- **What it is**: Memory used by the current page load
- **Why it matters**: Shows if you're approaching limits
- **Note**: This varies by page

### PHP Memory Peak Usage

- **What it is**: Maximum memory used during page load
- **Why it matters**: Indicates if memory limit needs increasing
- **Red flag**: Close to WordPress memory limit

### OPcache Status

- **What it is**: PHP opcode caching system
- **Why it matters**: Dramatically improves PHP performance
- **Recommended**: Enabled on all production sites
- **Red flags**:
  - **Cache is full**: OPcache memory exhausted
  - **Restart pending**: OPcache needs restart

---

## WordPress Constants

This section shows important WordPress configuration constants from `wp-config.php`.

Common constants include:

- `WP_DEBUG`: Debug mode status
- `WP_DEBUG_LOG`: Whether to log errors to file
- `WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY`: Whether to show errors on screen
- `SCRIPT_DEBUG`: Whether to use un-minified scripts
- `WP_CACHE`: Whether caching is enabled
- `CONCATENATE_SCRIPTS`: Whether to combine JS files

**Note**: Support may reference these when diagnosing issues.

---

## Security

This section shows security-related settings.

### Secure Connection (HTTPS)

- **What it is**: Whether your site uses SSL/TLS encryption
- **Why it matters**: Required for payment processing and security
- **Red flag**: ❌ means payments won't work and data is not secure
- **Required**: HTTPS is mandatory for accepting payments

### Hide Errors from Visitors

- **What it is**: Whether error messages are hidden from public view
- **Why it matters**: Error messages can reveal sensitive information
- **Red flag**: ❌ means errors are visible to visitors
- **Recommended**: Always hide errors on production sites

---

## Card Oracle Options

This section shows plugin-specific settings and API keys.

### What You'll See

- Payment gateway API keys (last 4 characters only)
- Email integration settings
- RSS feed configuration
- Other premium feature settings

**Security Note**: Full API keys are never displayed - only the last 4 characters for verification.

---

## Post Type Counts

This section shows how many of each content type you have.

### Content Types

- `co_readings`: Number of reading spreads
- `co_positions`: Number of positions across all readings
- `co_cards`: Number of cards in your deck(s)
- `co_descriptions`: Number of card interpretations
- `co_order`: Number of payment orders (premium only)

### Why It Matters

- Helps diagnose data import/export issues
- Confirms demo data installation
- Identifies orphaned or missing content

---

## Plugins and Theme

This section lists all installed plugins and your active theme.

### Active Plugins

- **What it is**: Plugins currently enabled on your site
- **Why it matters**: Plugin conflicts can cause issues
- **What to check**: Look for outdated plugins or unusual plugins

### Inactive Plugins

- **What it is**: Installed but disabled plugins
- **Note**: These shouldn't cause issues, but can be deleted if unused

### Dropin Plugins

- **What it is**: Special plugins in `wp-content` directory
- **Examples**: `object-cache.php`, `db.php`
- **Note**: Usually added by caching or optimization plugins

### Must-Use Plugins

- **What it is**: Plugins in `wp-content/mu-plugins` that always run
- **Note**: Some hosts use these for special features

### Theme Information

- **What it is**: Active theme name, version, and author
- **Why it matters**: Theme conflicts can affect reading display
- **Child themes**: Recommended if you modify theme files

---

## MD5 Checksums

This section verifies Card Oracle core files haven't been modified.

### What It Is

MD5 checksums are cryptographic hashes of important plugin files.

### Why It Matters

- Detects unauthorized modifications
- Confirms clean installation
- Identifies corruption or tampering

### What to Look For

- **Black text**: File is unchanged ✓
- **Red text**: File has been modified ⚠️

### If Files Are Modified

- Could indicate customization or damage
- Support may ask you to reinstall the plugin
- Not always a problem, but worth investigating

---

## Error and Debug Logs

This section shows recent errors and debug messages.

### Error Logs

- **What it is**: Card Oracle error messages logged to the database
- **Why it matters**: Shows what went wrong and when
- **Actions**:
  - Review error messages for patterns
  - Clear old logs with the **Clear Error Logs** button
  - Adjust rows displayed with the dropdown

### Debug Log

- **What it is**: PHP error log file (if `WP_DEBUG_LOG` is enabled)
- **Why it matters**: Shows WordPress and PHP errors
- **Note**: Only appears if debug logging is enabled

---

## Interpreting Status Indicators

The status report uses visual indicators to highlight issues.

### Indicator Types

| Indicator | Meaning | Action Required |
|-----------|---------|----------------|
| ✓ Green checkmark | Good configuration | None |
| — Dash | Not applicable or disabled | Review if feature needed |
| ⚠️ Yellow warning | Suboptimal setting | Consider fixing |
| ❌ Red X | Problem detected | Fix required |

### Common Issues and Solutions

#### Low Memory Limit

**Symptom**: ⚠️ on WordPress Memory Limit
**Solution**: Add to `wp-config.php`:
```php
define( 'WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '256M' );
```

#### Old PHP Version

**Symptom**: ⚠️ on PHP Version
**Solution**: Contact your host to upgrade PHP to 8.0+

#### No HTTPS

**Symptom**: ❌ on Secure Connection
**Solution**: Install SSL certificate (often free with host)

#### Missing DOMDocument

**Symptom**: ❌ on DOMDocument
**Solution**: Contact host to enable PHP DOMDocument extension

#### Log Directory Not Writable

**Symptom**: ❌ on Log Directory Writable
**Solution**: Set permissions to 755 or define custom log directory

---

## Best Practices

1. **Review Quarterly**: Check the status report every few months
2. **Before Updates**: Take a snapshot before major updates
3. **After Problems**: Generate a fresh report after any issues
4. **Share Wisely**: Only share with trusted support personnel
5. **Keep Updated**: Maintain recent versions of WordPress, PHP, and Card Oracle
6. **Monitor Performance**: Watch memory usage and OPcache status
7. **Enable Logging**: Keep logs enabled during troubleshooting
8. **Document Changes**: Note any customizations you make

---

## Getting Help

If you need assistance interpreting your status report:

1. Navigate to **Card Oracle > Dashboard > Status**
2. Click **Email system report** to send to support
3. Or click **Copy for support** and paste into your ticket
4. Describe the problem you're experiencing
5. Include any error messages you've seen

Contact support at: support@chillichalli.com

---

## Related Documentation

- [Troubleshooting Guide](troubleshooting.md) - Solutions to common problems
- [Help Documentation](help.md) - Complete feature reference
- [User Guide](user-guide.md) - Getting started with Card Oracle