MainWP Network Activity
MainWP Network Activity is the change log in your MainWP Dashboard for every WordPress site you manage. It lists the work done from your Dashboard next to the changes made outside MainWP, for example in a site’s WP Admin, with the user, the site and the date of each one.
It’s part of the free MainWP Core, built for agencies and freelancers whose clients and client staff keep their WP Admin access, and for teams where several people work in one MainWP Dashboard. MainWP Child, already on each connected site, records the changes made there.
Over 20,000 MainWP Dashboards manage over 700,000 child sites, and MainWP has over 2,200 five-star reviews on WordPress.org.
Finding out what changed on a client site usually means logging in to it, checking whatever log it keeps, and asking the client and your team who worked on it last. Network Activity collects those answers in your MainWP Dashboard.
| Change tracking on each site today | With MainWP Network Activity |
|---|---|
| Log in to each client site to see what changed | Open Sites > Network Activity and read the changes on all your sites in one list. |
| Ask the client and your team who installed a plugin | Each entry shows the user, the action, the site, the date and where the change came from. |
| Spot a plugin, user or setting a client changed on their own | Set Source to WP Admin to list the changes made outside MainWP. |
| Tell your team’s work apart from the client’s | The Source column marks each entry Dashboard or WP Admin. |
| Check whether a reported login really happened | Filter by site and user to find the login, marked Logged-in in the Event column. |
| Go through one client’s sites one by one | Pick the client in the filters, or open the client’s Overview page and its own Network Activity widget. |
What can you track and filter in MainWP Network Activity?
Network Activity has two sources. Your MainWP Dashboard records its own actions, and MainWP Child records the changes made on each site and sends them to your Dashboard each time you sync.
| Feature | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| Two sources in one list | Every entry is marked Dashboard, for work done from your MainWP Dashboard, or WP Admin, for changes made outside MainWP, for example in a site’s WP Admin. |
| Over 150 kinds of site changes | Logins and logouts, new users, role and password changes, posts and pages, comments, menus, widgets, WordPress settings, plugins, themes, file uploads and database tables. |
| Your Dashboard’s own actions | Sites added, updated, reconnected, suspended or deleted, plugin, theme, WordPress core and translation updates, and the posts, pages, users, clients and tags you manage from your Dashboard. |
| Filters and saved segments | Narrow the list by date range, tag, client, user, event, source and site, and save a set of filters as a segment to load again later. |
| Network Activity widget | The latest changes on Operations, on each site’s Overview and on each client’s Overview, switchable between Non-MainWP Changes, Dashboard Changes and Show All. |
| Dismiss | Dismiss one entry, the entries you select, or all of them once you’ve reviewed them, each after a confirmation. |
| Event selection | Choose which events to record, with separate lists for Dashboard events and Non-MainWP Changes. |
| Archiving and retention | Archive entries older than the period you choose, from one month to three years, and set how many days each child site keeps its own entries. |
| Dashboard Insights | Charts of the work your team does from your MainWP Dashboard and of how your sites are set up, with filters and SVG, PNG or CSV downloads. |
| REST API, MainWP MCP and Browser Extension | Read each site’s Non-MainWP Changes from your own scripts, an AI assistant or your browser toolbar. |
How does MainWP Network Activity show changes made outside MainWP?
Changes made outside MainWP, for example in a site’s WP Admin, appear with WP Admin as their source. MainWP calls them Non-MainWP Changes. They include the plugin a client installed, a new user someone created, a changed permalink setting, a new menu item or a deleted page. Each entry names the WordPress user on that site who made the change.
The changes you make through your MainWP Dashboard are recorded once, by your Dashboard, so the two sources stay separate. Site-side changes reach your Dashboard each time you sync: click Sync in your MainWP Dashboard to bring in each site’s latest entries.
The Network Activity widget on your Dashboard’s Operations page shows the most recent changes across your sites. Its menu switches between Non-MainWP Changes, Dashboard Changes and Show All, and View All Changes opens the full page.
Can you review one client’s activity in MainWP Network Activity?
Yes. Choose the client in the filters on Sites > Network Activity, and the list narrows to that client’s sites. Tags work the same way, for a care plan or a hosting group, and the site filter takes you down to a single site.
Each client’s Overview page has its own Network Activity widget, and so does each site’s Overview, so the latest changes sit next to the rest of that client’s or site’s details. Hover over any date to see the time on the child site. For everything else you manage on those sites, see MainWP Site Management.
What do MainWP Dashboard Insights show?
Insights, in your MainWP Dashboard’s left menu, puts your team’s activity and your sites’ setup into charts. Its activity widgets cover the plugin, theme, site, post, page, user and client work you and your team do from your Dashboard, with a Recent Activity list beside them. Seven more charts show how your sites are set up: site connectivity, PHP versions, WordPress versions, active themes, plugin status, tags and client sites.
- Filters: narrow every chart by date range, tag, client or user.
- Layout: show, hide and drag widgets into the order you want, and save the layout.
- Downloads: save any chart as SVG or PNG for a client report, or as CSV for its data.
Insights reads the same log as Network Activity and shares its settings page.
Can an AI assistant or script read MainWP Network Activity?
Yes. Each site’s Non-MainWP Changes are available to your own tools as well as to your MainWP Dashboard.
- AI assistants: Claude and other AI tools connect through MainWP MCP and use the Get Site Changes ability to list the changes made outside MainWP on any site you name.
- Scripts: the MainWP REST API returns a site’s Non-MainWP Changes from
GET /wp-json/mainwp/v2/sites/{site}/non-mainwp-changes, by site ID or domain, with paging. - Your browser: the MainWP Browser Extension counts Non-MainWP Changes in its toolbar badge and lists them in its Updates view.
Is MainWP Network Activity a good fit for your agency?
| What you need | Details |
|---|---|
| Plan | The free MainWP Core. Add MainWP Team Control, a MainWP Pro add-on, to choose which team members can work with Network Activity and open Insights. |
| MainWP Dashboard | WordPress 6.2 or later and PHP 8.3 or later. WordPress 6.9 or later adds the Get Site Changes ability for AI assistants. |
| Child sites | The free MainWP Child plugin on each site, with WordPress 6.2 or later and PHP 7.4 or later. It records the changes made on the site. |
| Logging | On from the start, with Enable Network Activity logging in Network Activity Settings. |
| Syncing | Sync your sites from your MainWP Dashboard to bring in their latest changes. Each child site keeps its entries for 7 days by default, and you choose the number of days. |
| Your data | The log is stored on your own server, in your MainWP Dashboard’s database. How Secure is MainWP explains how MainWP secures the connection between your Dashboard and your child sites. |
How do you start tracking site changes with MainWP Network Activity?
- Install the free MainWP Dashboard plugin and connect your sites with MainWP Child. Network Activity logging is on from the start.
- Open MainWP Settings > Network Activity Settings. Choose your events under Select events to log, turn on Automatically archive logs and pick a Data retention period, set the days child sites keep their entries, and click Save Settings.
- Click Sync to send the settings to your sites and bring in their changes.
- Open Sites > Network Activity, click Show Filters, choose a client, a source or a date range, and click Filter. Click Save Segment to keep that set of filters for next time.
- When you’ve reviewed entries, select them and click Dismiss Selected Changes, or click Dismiss on a single row.
The Network Activity guide covers filters, dismissing and every setting, and the Dashboard Insights guide covers the charts.
MainWP Network Activity FAQ
Is MainWP Network Activity free?
Yes, Network Activity, Non-MainWP Changes and Dashboard Insights are part of the free MainWP Core. MainWP Team Control, a MainWP Pro add-on, adds per-user rights for them. See MainWP Free vs Pro and MainWP Free Features.
What do child sites need for Network Activity?
The free MainWP Child plugin, which already connects each site to your MainWP Dashboard, records the changes made on the site. Your Dashboard records its own actions.
How is MainWP Network Activity different from WP Activity Log?
Network Activity is built into your MainWP Dashboard and uses MainWP Child, so it covers every connected site from the start. It puts your Dashboard’s actions and the changes made outside MainWP in one list and adds Insights charts. WP Activity Log, a free partner add-on from Melapress, is a separate plugin you install on each child site and on your Dashboard site. It suits teams that want a full activity log on each site, with search and custom notifications for child site events.
Whose name appears on a change made in WP Admin?
The entry names the WordPress user on that site who made the change. Entries from your MainWP Dashboard name the user who ran the action there.
When do changes made on a site appear in your MainWP Dashboard?
They arrive each time you sync. Click Sync in your MainWP Dashboard to bring in each site’s latest changes. MainWP Child holds them on the site for 7 days by default, and you can set more days in Network Activity Settings.
Where is Network Activity data stored?
On your own servers: your MainWP Dashboard keeps the log in its database, and each child site keeps its recent entries in its own database for the days you set.
How do you clear entries you’ve reviewed?
Click Dismiss on a row, select several rows and click Dismiss Selected Changes, or click Dismiss All Changes to clear the whole list across all your sites. Each one asks you to confirm. Turn on Automatically archive logs to move entries out of the list once they pass your retention period.
How do you turn off Network Activity?
Turn off Enable Network Activity logging in Network Activity Settings, click Save Settings, then sync your sites so MainWP Child picks up the change. To leave out single events, clear them under Select events to log.