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Getting started

Installation and activation

3 min read

Install the free plugin

From the WordPress directory

  1. In wp-admin go to Plugins › Add New Plugin.
  2. Search for Mass Custom Fields (author: WPMass) and click Install Now.
  3. Click Activate.

From a zip file

  1. Go to Plugins › Add New Plugin › Upload Plugin.
  2. Choose the zip and click Install Now, then Activate Plugin.

Or upload the mass-custom-fields folder to /wp-content/plugins/ and activate it on the Plugins screen.

What activation does

When you activate the plugin it:

  1. Creates its core database tables (with your table prefix, shown here as wp_):

Table

Holds

wp_wpmcf_settings

Field group, post type, taxonomy and options page definitions, Global Data and plugin settings

wp_wpmcf_migrations

Which database upgrades have run

wp_wpmcf_tasks

Background tasks

wp_wpmcf_task_logs

The log of those tasks

Field group tables (wp_wpmcf_fg_{group key}) are created later, when you create a field group. With Pro, extra tables appear for Programmatic SEO and data tables.

  1. Resumes any background work that was paused when the plugin was last deactivated.
  2. Refreshes your URLs (rewrite rules) so custom post types work.
  3. Opens the setup wizard once, on the next admin page load (see below).

Running activation again is safe; it does not duplicate or overwrite anything.

After an update, the plugin checks once whether the database needs an upgrade and runs it in the background. You do not need to deactivate and reactivate.

The setup wizard opens by itself, once

After a single activation, the next wp-admin page you open redirects to WPM Fields › Setup (wp-admin/admin.php?page=wpmcf-setup). It does not open when:

  • you activated several plugins at once (bulk activation),
  • you activated the plugin for the whole network,
  • the wizard was already finished or skipped,
  • the request is not an administrator's.

Details: Setup wizard and starter templates.

Install Mass Custom Fields Pro

Mass Custom Fields Pro is a separate plugin package with the same plugin name. After you start a trial or buy a plan you download it from your account.

  1. Go to Plugins › Add New Plugin › Upload Plugin and upload the Pro zip.
  2. Activate it. The free and Pro packages are the same plugin, so only one of them should stay active; if both are installed, deactivate and delete the free one after the Pro one works.
  3. Activate your license if asked (see Plans and licensing).

Everything you built with the free plugin is picked up as it is: field groups, tables, settings and post types are shared. The first admin page load after installing Pro adds the extra Pro tables automatically.

Go back from Pro to free

Install and activate the free plugin in place of Pro. Nothing is deleted: Pro data stays in your database, advanced field values keep printing, and Pro screens simply disappear. See Trials, renewals and expiry for what happens to each Pro feature.

Troubleshooting

Symptom

What to do

The setup wizard did not open

Open it yourself at WPM Fields › Setup (admin.php?page=wpmcf-setup), or follow the Run the setup wizard button on the dashboard checklist.

"Plugin could not be activated because it triggered a fatal error"

Check your PHP version in Requirements. If the version is fine, ask in the support forum and include the error.

WPM Fields menu is missing

Only users with the manage_options capability (Administrators) see it.

Tables were not created

Your database user may lack CREATE rights. Ask your host.

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