Quick Problem Solver

Find fast solutions to common Automatic Plugin for WordPress issues. Use this guide to diagnose and resolve problems quickly.

Problem Categories

Not Working

Plugin not generating content

Performance

Slow or timing out

API Issues

API keys not working

Quality Issues

Poor content quality

Most Common Issues

Plugin Not Generating Any Content

Check These First:

  • Plugin is activated and shows in admin menu
  • OpenAI API key is entered and tested
  • At least one RSS feed or content source is configured
  • Cron jobs are enabled and running
  • No PHP errors in WordPress error log

Quick Fixes:

  1. Go to plugin dashboard and check status indicators
  2. Test OpenAI connection in settings
  3. Manually trigger content generation
  4. Check WordPress cron status
  5. Enable debug mode to see detailed errors

Debug Steps:

// Check if plugin is loaded
if (class_exists('AutoNewsImporter')) {
    echo "Plugin loaded successfully";
} else {
    echo "Plugin not loaded - check activation";
}

// Check OpenAI connection
$test_result = ani_test_openai_connection();
if ($test_result['success']) {
    echo "OpenAI working";
} else {
    echo "OpenAI error: " . $test_result['error'];
}

OpenAI API Key Issues

Invalid API Key

  • Double-check key copy/paste
  • Remove extra spaces
  • Generate new key if needed
  • Verify account is active

Rate Limit Exceeded

  • Wait for reset (usually 1 hour)
  • Reduce generation frequency
  • Enable caching
  • Check usage in OpenAI dashboard

Insufficient Credits

  • Add credits to OpenAI account
  • Set up automatic billing
  • Check spending limits
  • Monitor usage alerts

API Testing Code:

// Test OpenAI API manually
$api_key = 'your-api-key-here';
$curl = curl_init();
curl_setopt_array($curl, [
    CURLOPT_URL => 'https://api.openai.com/v1/models',
    CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
    CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => [
        'Authorization: Bearer ' . $api_key,
        'Content-Type: application/json'
    ]
]);
$response = curl_exec($curl);
$http_code = curl_getinfo($curl, CURLINFO_HTTP_CODE);
curl_close($curl);

if ($http_code === 200) {
    echo "API key is valid!";
} else {
    echo "API error: " . $response;
}

Performance & Timeout Issues

Slow Performance Causes:

  • Low server memory limit (<256MB)
  • Short max execution time (<300s)
  • Too many concurrent operations
  • Large image downloads
  • Disabled caching
  • Overloaded hosting server

Performance Solutions:

  1. Increase PHP memory limit to 512MB
  2. Set max execution time to 600 seconds
  3. Enable all plugin caching options
  4. Reduce concurrent cron job frequency
  5. Optimize image download settings
  6. Consider upgrading hosting plan

Server Configuration Check:

// Add to wp-config.php for better performance
ini_set('memory_limit', '512M');
ini_set('max_execution_time', 600);
ini_set('max_input_vars', 3000);

// Check current limits
echo "Memory Limit: " . ini_get('memory_limit') . "\n";
echo "Max Execution Time: " . ini_get('max_execution_time') . "\n";
echo "Max Input Vars: " . ini_get('max_input_vars') . "\n";

Content Quality Issues

Common Quality Problems:

  • Generic, low-value content
  • Repetitive articles
  • Poor grammar or structure
  • Irrelevant or off-topic content
  • Missing images or poor image selection
  • No proper formatting

Quality Improvement Steps:

  1. Improve AI prompts with specific instructions
  2. Enable content filtering and quality scoring
  3. Set minimum content length requirements
  4. Configure better image sourcing
  5. Enable content enhancement features
  6. Review and optimize generated content

Better Prompt Example:

// Instead of: "Write about technology"
// Use this detailed prompt:

"As a technology expert, write a comprehensive 800-word article about [TOPIC].
Include:
- Clear introduction explaining why this matters
- 3-5 main points with practical examples
- Current statistics and data
- Expert insights and quotes
- Actionable takeaways for readers
- Professional but conversational tone
- Proper heading structure (H2, H3)
- Conclusion with next steps"

Installation & Setup Issues

Plugin Won't Install

Common Causes:

  • File permissions incorrect
  • ZIP file corrupted
  • Upload size limits too low
  • WordPress version incompatibility
  • Conflicting plugins

Solutions:

  • Set correct file permissions (755/644)
  • Re-download plugin ZIP file
  • Increase upload_max_filesize in PHP
  • Update WordPress to latest version
  • Deactivate other plugins temporarily

Database Issues

Problem: Plugin tables not created during installation

// Manually create tables if needed
global $wpdb;

$table_name = $wpdb->prefix . 'ani_processed_content';
$charset_collate = $wpdb->get_charset_collate();

$sql = "CREATE TABLE $table_name (
    id mediumint(9) NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
    content_hash varchar(64) NOT NULL,
    title text,
    url text,
    source_type varchar(20),
    status varchar(20) DEFAULT 'pending',
    created_at datetime DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
    PRIMARY KEY  (id),
    UNIQUE KEY content_hash (content_hash)
) $charset_collate;";

require_once(ABSPATH . 'wp-admin/includes/upgrade.php');
dbDelta($sql);

Cron Job & Automation Issues

Cron Jobs Not Running

Check These Items:

  • WordPress cron is enabled (DISABLE_WP_CRON = false)
  • Server has proper cron setup
  • No PHP errors blocking execution
  • Plugin cron hooks are registered
  • Sufficient server resources

Test Cron Manually:

// Test WordPress cron
wp_cron();

// Check scheduled events
$cron_jobs = _get_cron_array();
print_r($cron_jobs);

// Manual trigger
do_action('ani_process_rss_feeds');

Fix Cron Issues:

  1. Install "WP Crontrol" plugin to debug cron jobs
  2. Check if DISABLE_WP_CRON is set to true in wp-config.php
  3. Set up server-level cron if WordPress cron is disabled
  4. Increase memory and execution time limits
  5. Check error logs for cron-related errors

Server Cron Setup

For better performance, set up server-level cron jobs instead of WordPress cron:

# Add these lines to your server's crontab
# Edit with: crontab -e

# RSS processing every 5 minutes
*/5 * * * * /usr/bin/wget -q -O - "https://yoursite.com/wp-cron.php?doing_wp_cron" >/dev/null 2>&1

# Original content every hour
0 * * * * /usr/bin/wget -q -O - "https://yoursite.com/?ani_cron=original" >/dev/null 2>&1

# Web scraping every 30 minutes
*/30 * * * * /usr/bin/wget -q -O - "https://yoursite.com/?ani_cron=scraping" >/dev/null 2>&1

Debug Mode & Logging

Enable Debug Mode

Enable debug mode to see detailed error messages and troubleshoot issues:

// Add to wp-config.php for WordPress debugging
define('WP_DEBUG', true);
define('WP_DEBUG_LOG', true);
define('WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false);
define('SCRIPT_DEBUG', true);

// Plugin-specific debugging
define('ANI_DEBUG', true);
define('ANI_LOG_LEVEL', 'debug');

// Check debug.log file in /wp-content/ directory
tail -f /path/to/wp-content/debug.log

System Information

Gather system information for support requests:

// System info for support
echo "WordPress Version: " . get_bloginfo('version') . "\n";
echo "PHP Version: " . PHP_VERSION . "\n";
echo "Memory Limit: " . ini_get('memory_limit') . "\n";
echo "Max Execution Time: " . ini_get('max_execution_time') . "\n";
echo "Plugin Version: " . ANI_VERSION . "\n";
echo "Active Plugins: " . implode(', ', get_option('active_plugins')) . "\n";

// Check plugin tables
global $wpdb;
$tables = $wpdb->get_results("SHOW TABLES LIKE '{$wpdb->prefix}ani_%'");
echo "Plugin Tables: " . count($tables) . "\n";

Emergency Recovery

Plugin Causing Site Issues

If the plugin is causing your site to crash or become inaccessible:

  1. Access your site via FTP or hosting control panel
  2. Rename the plugin folder to deactivate it: 
    mv /wp-content/plugins/auto-news-importer-ultimate /wp-content/plugins/auto-news-importer-ultimate-disabled
  3. Site should be accessible again
  4. Check error logs for the cause
  5. Fix the issue before reactivating

Reset Plugin Settings

If settings are corrupted or causing issues:

// Reset all plugin settings
delete_option('ani_settings');
delete_option('ani_openai_settings');
delete_option('ani_rss_settings');
delete_option('ani_image_settings');

// Clear plugin cache
wp_cache_flush();

// Reactivate plugin to restore defaults
deactivate_plugins('auto-news-importer-ultimate/main.php');
activate_plugin('auto-news-importer-ultimate/main.php');

Getting Additional Help

Email Support

Get detailed technical assistance via email.

Contact Support

Documentation

Browse complete guides and tutorials.

View Docs

Before Contacting Support

Include This Information:

  • WordPress version
  • Plugin version
  • PHP version
  • Hosting provider
  • Error messages (exact text)

Steps You've Tried:

  • Troubleshooting steps attempted
  • When the issue started
  • Any recent changes made
  • Screenshots of error messages
  • Debug log entries (if available)