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Plugin Activation, Deactivation & Status

Overview

Controlling plugin states is essential for WordPress management. WP-CLI makes it instant to activate, deactivate, and check plugin status—critical for troubleshooting, testing, and managing multiple sites.

Understanding Plugin States​

WordPress plugins can be in different states:

  • Active: Plugin is running and affecting the site
  • Inactive: Plugin is installed but not running
  • Must-Use: Plugin automatically active (in wp-content/mu-plugins/)
  • Dropin: Special plugin replacing WordPress core functionality

WP-CLI lets you control these states instantly without touching wp-admin.

Activating Plugins​

Activate Single Plugin​

# Activate a plugin
wp plugin activate woocommerce

Output:

Success: Plugin 'woocommerce' activated.

Activate Multiple Plugins​

# Activate several plugins at once
wp plugin activate elementor wordfence updraftplus

# Output shows success for each

Activate All Plugins​

# Activate all installed plugins
wp plugin activate --all
Use With Caution

Activating all plugins can cause conflicts. Use this primarily when:

  • Re-enabling plugins after troubleshooting
  • Setting up a cloned/migrated site
  • You know all plugins are compatible

Network Activation (Multisite)​

# Activate plugin network-wide
wp plugin activate akismet --network

# Activate on specific subsite
wp plugin activate woocommerce --url=shop.example.com

Deactivating Plugins​

Deactivate Single Plugin​

# Deactivate a plugin
wp plugin deactivate yoast-seo

Deactivate Multiple Plugins​

# Deactivate several plugins
wp plugin deactivate elementor contact-form-7

Deactivate All Plugins​

# Deactivate all plugins (emergency troubleshooting)
wp plugin deactivate --all

Use cases:

  • White screen of death - disable all plugins to identify culprit
  • Plugin conflict - isolate which plugin is causing issues
  • Site migration - prepare for export/import

Network Deactivation (Multisite)​

# Deactivate network-wide
wp plugin deactivate akismet --network

# Deactivate on specific subsite
wp plugin deactivate woocommerce --url=shop.example.com

Checking Plugin Status​

Get Plugin Status​

# Check status of specific plugin
wp plugin status woocommerce

Example output:

Plugin woocommerce details:
    Name: WooCommerce
    Status: Active
    Version: 8.3.0
    Author: Automattic
    Description: An eCommerce toolkit...

List Plugins by Status​

# List all plugins
wp plugin list

# List only active plugins
wp plugin list --status=active

# List only inactive plugins
wp plugin list --status=inactive

# List must-use plugins
wp plugin list --status=must-use

# List dropins
wp plugin list --status=dropin

Example output:

+-------------------+----------+--------+---------+
| name              | status   | update | version |
+-------------------+----------+--------+---------+
| akismet           | active   | none   | 5.3     |
| contact-form-7    | inactive | none   | 5.8     |
| woocommerce       | active   | 8.3.0  | 8.2.0   |
+-------------------+----------+--------+---------+

Check if Plugin is Installed​

# Check if plugin exists
wp plugin is-installed woocommerce && echo "Installed" || echo "Not installed"

# Use in scripts
if wp plugin is-installed woocommerce; then
  echo "WooCommerce is installed"
else
  echo "WooCommerce not found"
fi

Get Active Plugin List​

# Get names of all active plugins
wp plugin list --status=active --field=name

# Count active plugins
wp plugin list --status=active --field=name | wc -l

Real-World Scenarios​

Scenario 1: Emergency Site Recovery (White Screen of Death)​

Problem: Site shows white screen, wp-admin inaccessible.

Solution:

# SSH into server
cd /var/www/html

# Deactivate all plugins
wp plugin deactivate --all

# Site should now be accessible
# Check which plugin caused the issue by activating one by one

# Activate plugins individually
wp plugin activate akismet
# Test site...

wp plugin activate contact-form-7
# Test site...

# When site breaks, you've found the culprit

Scenario 2: Plugin Conflict Diagnosis​

#!/bin/bash
# diagnose-plugin-conflict.sh

echo "Deactivating all plugins..."
wp plugin deactivate --all

echo "Testing each plugin individually..."
for plugin in $(wp plugin list --status=inactive --field=name); do
  echo "Testing: $plugin"
  wp plugin activate $plugin
  
  # Test if site is working (customize this check)
  if curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" http://localhost | grep -q "200"; then
    echo "✓ $plugin OK"
  else
    echo "✗ $plugin FAILED - This is the problematic plugin!"
    wp plugin deactivate $plugin
    exit 1
  fi
done

echo "All plugins tested successfully!"

Scenario 3: Bulk Plugin Management Across Sites​

#!/bin/bash
# activate-security-plugins.sh

# Activate security plugins on all sites
sites=(
  "/var/www/site1"
  "/var/www/site2"
  "/var/www/site3"
)

for site in "${sites[@]}"; do
  echo "Activating security plugins for $site"
  wp plugin activate wordfence --path=$site
  wp plugin activate updraftplus --path=$site
  echo "---"
done

Scenario 4: Conditional Plugin Activation​

#!/bin/bash
# conditional-plugin-activation.sh

# Activate WooCommerce only if not already active
if ! wp plugin is-active woocommerce; then
  echo "WooCommerce is inactive. Activating..."
  wp plugin activate woocommerce
else
  echo "WooCommerce is already active."
fi

# Activate plugin and check for errors
if wp plugin activate problematic-plugin 2>&1 | grep -q "Error"; then
  echo "Activation failed! Rolling back..."
  wp plugin deactivate problematic-plugin
else
  echo "Plugin activated successfully!"
fi

Scenario 5: Multisite Plugin Management​

# Enable plugin for network
wp plugin activate wordfence --network

# Activate on specific subsites only
for url in site1.example.com site2.example.com; do
  wp plugin activate woocommerce --url=$url
done

# Deactivate on all subsites but keep network-enabled
wp site list --field=url | xargs -I {} wp plugin deactivate akismet --url={}

Advanced Plugin Status Checks​

Get Detailed Plugin Information​

# Get all details about a plugin
wp plugin get woocommerce

# Get specific field
wp plugin get woocommerce --field=version
wp plugin get woocommerce --field=status
wp plugin get woocommerce --field=author

# Get plugin path
wp plugin path woocommerce

Check Plugin Dependencies​

# List plugins with their required PHP version
wp plugin list --fields=name,version,requires_php

# Check if plugin requires specific WordPress version
wp plugin get elementor --field=requires

Export Plugin List​

# Export active plugins to file
wp plugin list --status=active --format=json > active-plugins.json

# Export as CSV
wp plugin list --status=active --format=csv > active-plugins.csv

# Export plugin names only
wp plugin list --status=active --field=name > active-plugins.txt

Automation & Scripts​

Auto-Activate After Installation​

# Install and activate in one command
wp plugin install contact-form-7 --activate

# Bulk install and activate
wp plugin install elementor wordfence updraftplus --activate

Scheduled Plugin Checks​

#!/bin/bash
# check-plugin-status.sh

# Log inactive plugins
echo "=== Inactive Plugins Report ===" > plugin-report.txt
echo "Date: $(date)" >> plugin-report.txt
wp plugin list --status=inactive --format=table >> plugin-report.txt

# Email report
mail -s "Weekly Plugin Status" admin@example.com < plugin-report.txt

Toggle Plugins for Maintenance Mode​

#!/bin/bash
# maintenance-mode.sh

if [ "$1" == "on" ]; then
  echo "Enabling maintenance mode..."
  wp plugin deactivate --all
  wp plugin activate maintenance-mode-plugin
elif [ "$1" == "off" ]; then
  echo "Disabling maintenance mode..."
  wp plugin deactivate maintenance-mode-plugin
  wp plugin activate --all
fi

Best Practices​

1. Always Test Plugin Activation on Staging​

# On staging
wp plugin activate new-plugin
# Test thoroughly...

# On production (after successful test)
wp plugin activate new-plugin

2. Document Plugin States​

# Before making changes, document current state
wp plugin list --status=active --field=name > plugins-before.txt

# Make changes...

# Compare after
wp plugin list --status=active --field=name > plugins-after.txt
diff plugins-before.txt plugins-after.txt

3. Use Activation Hooks Carefully​

# Some plugins run activation hooks that modify database
# Always backup before activating unknown plugins
wp db export backup-before-activation.sql
wp plugin activate unknown-plugin

4. Regular Plugin Audits​

# Weekly audit: Check for inactive plugins
wp plugin list --status=inactive

# Security best practice: Delete unused plugins
wp plugin delete unused-plugin-1 unused-plugin-2

5. Monitor Plugin Conflicts​

# After activating new plugin, check for PHP errors
wp plugin activate new-plugin
tail -f wp-content/debug.log

Troubleshooting​

Plugin Won't Activate​

# Check for activation errors
wp plugin activate problematic-plugin 2>&1 | tee activation-error.log

# Enable debug mode
wp config set WP_DEBUG true --raw
wp config set WP_DEBUG_LOG true --raw

# Try activating again
wp plugin activate problematic-plugin

# Check debug log
tail -f wp-content/debug.log

Plugin Won't Deactivate​

# Force deactivate by removing from active plugins option
wp option get active_plugins

# Manually remove plugin from active list (advanced)
# Better: Check for fatal errors preventing deactivation
wp plugin deactivate problematic-plugin 2>&1

Activation Breaks Site​

# Immediately deactivate
wp plugin deactivate problematic-plugin

# If site completely broken
wp plugin deactivate --all

# Restore from backup if needed
wp db import backup-before-activation.sql

Quick Reference​

Essential Commands​

# Activate plugins
wp plugin activate <plugin>                 # Activate one
wp plugin activate plugin1 plugin2          # Activate multiple
wp plugin activate --all                    # Activate all
wp plugin activate <plugin> --network       # Network activate (multisite)

# Deactivate plugins
wp plugin deactivate <plugin>               # Deactivate one
wp plugin deactivate plugin1 plugin2        # Deactivate multiple
wp plugin deactivate --all                  # Deactivate all (emergency)
wp plugin deactivate <plugin> --network     # Network deactivate

# Check status
wp plugin status <plugin>                   # Get plugin details
wp plugin list                              # List all plugins
wp plugin list --status=active              # List active only
wp plugin list --status=inactive            # List inactive only
wp plugin is-installed <plugin>             # Check if installed
wp plugin get <plugin> --field=status       # Get status field

# Advanced
wp plugin path <plugin>                     # Get plugin directory path
wp plugin list --format=json                # Export as JSON
wp plugin list --fields=name,status,version # Custom fields

Common Workflows​

# Emergency troubleshooting
wp plugin deactivate --all
# Site should work now - activate plugins one by one

# Safe plugin activation
wp db export backup.sql
wp plugin activate new-plugin
# Test site...

# Bulk activation
wp plugin activate plugin1 plugin2 plugin3

# Check before activating
wp plugin is-installed woocommerce && wp plugin activate woocommerce

Comparison: WP-CLI vs wp-admin​

TaskWP-CLIwp-admin
Activate 10 Plugins~2 seconds1-2 minutes
Deactivate AllInstant1-2 minutes
Works When Site Broken✅ Yes❌ No
Bulk Operations✅ Native⚠️ One-by-one
Automation✅ Scriptable❌ Manual
Visual Feedback❌ Text only✅ Visual interface
Plugin Description⚠️ Limited✅ Full details
Key Takeaway

WP-CLI is essential for troubleshooting (especially when wp-admin is broken) and bulk operations. Use wp-admin when you need to browse plugin details and read descriptions before activating.

Next Steps​